


One + One (And We'll Become One)

by sexycutiehoneypeachy



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cultural Differences, Food is important, Friends to Lovers, International Student!Ong, M/M, Mentor and Mentee, Mostly Fluff, Strangers to Friends, set in Los Angeles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-07-23 19:11:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16165133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sexycutiehoneypeachy/pseuds/sexycutiehoneypeachy
Summary: Ong Seongwoo, an international student from Korea, joins a mentor/mentee program in college and meets Kang Daniel, who becomes his mentor. Little did they know that their meeting would lead to many food adventures (important) and mark the beginning of a journey where they learn to overcome their differences and become one with each other.





	1. feat. Chipotle

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.  
> Also I don't know anything about computer science and modern dance, and it's been a while since I've graduated from college, so if you see anything that's not accurate...shhh.

Seongwoo waited nervously in front of the water fountain, an iced caramel macchiato in his left hand and his phone on his right hand. The last text message that he received was from 5 minutes ago, when the other party had told him ‘I’ll be there in 5 min!’ with an [Apeach](https://media1.tenor.com/images/4e61b67c9f2d95f1abe75a3b156c427b/tenor.gif?itemid=12239173) dancing giddily on the left side of the chatroom. Meanwhile all the students were walking past him, probably in search of food since it was around lunch time. Seongwoo took a sip from his already-melted-and-super-watered-down caramel macchiato. He didn’t know if the jitteriness was from drinking coffee on empty stomach, or if he was actually nervous about meeting this person – probably both.

 

“Ong Seongwoo?” a cheerful voice came from the left, startling Seongwoo, but Seongwoo recovered quickly and turned around to find another student with bright brown hair, dangling earrings, colorful clothing, and a bright red skateboard in his right hand. He was tall, looming over Seongwoo almost intimidatingly, and his broad shoulders made it even more intimidating. That was saying something for Seongwoo, who was also tall himself, even though he was on the skinnier side. Seongwoo quickly got up and waved awkwardly.

 

“Kang Daniel, right?” he received enthusiastic nods in response as the other boy’s fingers wrapped around his hand suddenly and shook his hands. Seongwoo blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything as the other hand retreated. He forgot that shaking hands was a thing here. Daniel’s hands were large, warm, and a little sweaty, probably from walking all the way here in this sunny, hot weather.

 

“Your application said you were a year older, so – do you mind if I called you hyung?” the brunet scratched his eyelid sheepishly and Seongwoo was somewhat relieved to know that he wasn’t the only nervous one right now, though his nervousness was starting to fade thanks to Daniel’s fluent Korean. It had only been three weeks since classes started, but to Seongwoo it felt like it had been ages since he had last heard Korean from a person that wasn’t his family or friends from Korea. (To be more specific, hearing Korean in person.)

 

“I don’t mind,” Seongwoo smiled while scratching the side of his neck, “Um, so have you eaten lunch yet? I haven’t really explored around the campus, but I’m down to eat anything. If you want to eat dorm food for a change, I can swipe you too.”

 

Daniel’s nose wrinkled, an obvious sign of distaste. “Nah, it’s usually too loud at the cafeteria. And I don’t miss dorm food at all.” He contemplated briefly, his thumb and index fingers forming a V against his chin, “How about Chipotle? Have you been to one before? From what I remember they don’t have one in Korea.”

 

Seongwoo’s eyes twinkled, “I’ve heard of it but haven’t been there yet. I’m down!” He had heard of Chipotle from his friend Minhyun before, and was itching to try it at some point. He hadn’t had a chance since he was busy; he had just moved from Korea three weeks ago and was still trying to get accustomed to this ‘American college life.’

 

“Alright, Chipotle it is!” the boy’s grin got even brighter as he gently nudged Seongwoo forward, his warm hand against Seongwoo’s left shoulder.

 

Touchy, this one. Seongwoo silently noted to himself. He wasn’t too surprised though, since the first thing he had thought of when first seeing Daniel earlier was a Samoyed: huge, friendly, and possibly touchy and/or clingy. Seongwoo’s first impression of people tended to be accurate.

 

“So, how are you liking America so far? It’s only been three weeks since school started, but,” Daniel asked as they made their way through a crowd of students, “Or have you visited here before?”

 

“It’s my first time here – oh,” Seongwoo’s eyebrows furrowed when a random passerby’s shoulder bumped harshly into his, “It’s been alright, I guess. The weather is so nice here and the sky is pretty all the time. School’s been kind of –“

 

Just as Seongwoo was about to trip and fall, a hand shot out and steadied him. Seongwoo blinked, recognizing the large, warm hand that grabbed his wrist, even though it had only been 10 minutes since he first saw these hands.

 

“Be careful. Let’s talk more after we’re away from the crowd,” Daniel smiled and proceeded to guide him by his hand until they were at the edge of the campus. Even though Daniel held his wrist for less than 5 minutes, it felt so light and cold as soon as Daniel let go of it. The other boy gave him a light, fleeting squeeze on Seongwoo’s shoulder as he nudged him towards the path that they were supposed to walk on.

 

Definitely touchy, Seongwoo noted once again.

 

“So, what about school?” Daniel asked, intent on continuing from where their conversation had left off. Their arms kept brushing against each other, but Seongwoo didn’t really mind, having missed physical contact.

 

“Oh, well, I was going to say that school has been kind of difficult. I know English well enough – well enough to pass TOEFL and SAT and come here, obviously – but it’s different being surrounded by a different culture and language all the time, you know?” Daniel gave him a heartfelt ‘Mm’ and a genuine nod, which allowed Seongwoo to continue, “So I’ve been just kind of cooped up in my dorm after classes and sit there with my notes, trying to understand what my professors are saying. I haven’t really made friends here or anything, just going back and forth between my classes and dorm, so my high school friend – his name is Minhyun by the way, he goes to Seoul University for medicine – told me that I should at least join a Korean student organization or something.”

 

Even though he didn’t mention it directly, Seongwoo had to admit that he was feeling quite lonely and he could tell that Daniel felt it in his story too, judging by his sad puppy face. Seongwoo sheepishly scratched the side of his neck. “Sorry, I kind of poured out my heart to you just now. It’s been a while since I had a real conversation in person.”

 

“No no, I totally understand. You don’t have to feel sorry at all,” Daniel muttered, “When I first moved here in middle school, it was like that for me too. My mom sent me to my aunt’s place before she moved, so I was super lonely. And on top of that, I wasn’t studious back in Korea, so my English wasn’t too good either. It took a while for me to get used to the lifestyle here, so it must be even more difficult for you, coming here at an older age.”

 

Chipotle was thankfully not too busy – Daniel said this was a rare occasion, as almost all college students loved Chipotle for the taste, portion, and the price – and Daniel helped Seongwoo customize his own burrito bowl each step of the way, not even a hint of impatience on his face when Seongwoo would ask him more questions about the ingredients and spend a few seconds contemplating. He even bought the food for the two of them (with guacamole and chips on top of that), even though Seongwoo insisted on treating him as the hyung. Daniel kept saying that it was a mentor’s duty to buy his mentee food so Seongwoo let him this time after Daniel said he can buy the food next time they meet.

 

“I’m glad that you decided to sign up for our mentor-mentee program,” Daniel spoke up and Seongwoo lifted his face from his burrito bowl. He didn’t realize how hungry he was so he was eating with his face practically in the bowl. Oops. “First time is always scary, but you summoned the courage to take the first step, so – I’m really happy for you! That’s not an easy thing to do. And if you’re up for it, I can introduce you to all the hyungs that I know and my friends. No pressure, though. I know you’re still trying to get used to school and everything.”

 

“Yeah, maybe not right now, but definitely when I get more used to school,” Seongwoo really meant this and hoped that Daniel understood him too. Daniel was so friendly that despite only knowing him for less than a day, Seongwoo was sure that all his friends must be nice too. “So you said you moved here when you were a middle schooler? What part of Korea are you from?”

 

Daniel, not to Seongwoo’s surprise, was originally from Busan. (The boy’s Korean was heavily accented with Busan dialect, it was hard to miss.) His two front teeth were out as he excitedly explained that his dance instructor back in Korea told his mom – he casually said that his parents had been divorced ever since he was five years old – that he was too good to be stuck in Korea, which was the reason why his mom decided to move here. He had continued down that dancer’s path and was now majoring in modern dance. Daniel added bashfully that he was also the top student in his major, to which Seongwoo responded with claps.

 

The boy had asked about Seongwoo too, and the way he listened to Seongwoo go on about his ordinary life as a computer science major made Seongwoo feel like his life was so interesting. Of course, his story excluded a lot of recent events that could be interesting to other people, but he thought that his current life was a lot more mundane than Daniel’s. (“What do you mean by ‘not interesting?’ You moved to a different country not at a young age but as a freshman in college – I find that interesting _and_ impressive! And computer science is something that I could never do!” Daniel huffed.)

 

Seongwoo found it almost unbelievable how easy it was to talk to Daniel. Seongwoo himself was a friendly person objectively – but talking with Daniel was just so…effortless. They didn’t have awkward silences in the middle of their conversations, and they just moved from one topic to the next so smoothly that even they had to pause in the middle of their talk and laugh about how fast their conversation was moving.

 

By the end of the lunch, both Daniel and Seongwoo dropped the formal speech (even though Daniel kept it half formal and half informal – it seemed like a habit of his), and Daniel had officially invited Seongwoo to his apartment to play with his cats Peter and Rooney, and hang out with his roommate Jaehwan. Seongwoo thought Daniel was just being polite at first, but when Daniel asked when he was free in the next few days, Seongwoo realized that Daniel was genuinely wanting to hang out with him. Seongwoo, needless to say, was very touched.

 

“Since you seem to like Chipotle so much, I think you’ll like In-N-Out too. I’ve never met a person who didn’t like In-N-Out,” Daniel grinned as he poked at Seongwoo’s almost empty burrito bowl, “We can take In-N-Out to-go when you come over to my place this Friday.”

 

“That was really good. I wish I can finish this, but I don’t think my stomach handle any more food,” Seongwoo looked sadly down at the remains and poked them with his fork. “Thanks for treating me today, Daniel. I really appreciate it.”

 

“Anything for my mentee,” Daniel’s eyes sparkled in mirth, “It’s so fun talking to you, I wonder why. Our tastes don’t even match up that well. Like, you like romantic comedies, I like action movies. You like taking pictures and reading a book on your free time and I go out to skateboard or surf.”

 

“I know, right?” Seongwoo laughed, “I guess it’s really true when people say opposites attract.”

 

“But that usually applies to couples, no?” Daniel giggled behind his hand, his ears looking very pink. “It did feel almost like a date, not gonna lie. Should we just make it into a date then? Stop by a café and chat about the weather while holding each other’s hands?”

 

Seongwoo couldn’t help but burst out laughing out loud at that. “Oh my god, stop!”

 

“That will come eventually, jagi, don’t you fret,” he then proceeded to wink at him, his face all scrunched up and looking ugly – Seongwoo just continued to laugh.

 

But unfortunately, Seongwoo had to go to his afternoon class, which meant that they couldn’t go to a café and chat about the weather while holding each other’s hands, but Daniel was nice enough to walk him all the way to his class even though it was far away. As Seongwoo walked into the lecture hall, Daniel waved his hand – practically his whole arm – at him enthusiastically, making other students around them turn around and look with curiosity. Seongwoo only blushed and shooed him away.

 

After he took a seat in the lecture hall, three hundred other students chatting still, he realized that he got a KakaoTalk message from Daniel.

 

**Daniel Kang**

Jagi, are you embarrassed of me is that why  
you walked away so fast T.T I’m hurt   02:56 PM

 

Oh my god, this kid. Seongwoo stifled a snort and quickly swiped right to bring up KakaoTalk.

 

How many times do I have to tell you, jagi?

02:56 PM   We’re dating in secret, remember? 

Anyways 

02:57 PM   I had fun today! Thanks for the food

 

Seongwoo had to mute and put his phone away in haste when the professor walked into the lecture hall, but a small smile remained on his face throughout the whole lecture.

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo had just came back from the shower – he was still trying to get used to sharing bathrooms with 10 plus people on the same floor as him – when Minhyun Facetimed him. Seongwoo checked the time briefly. It was almost midnight here, meaning it was 4PM in Korea, which was when Minhyun finished his Tuesday classes. Luckily, his roommate wasn’t back yet.

 

“What’s up,” Seongwoo greeted and waved his hand at the camera.

 

“I’m done for the day and wanted to check up on you. Someone seems like he’s in a good mood today though,” Minhyun replied with a smile. He must’ve been at a café again to study; Seongwoo could see people sitting and walking around with coffee in their hands. “You said you were supposed to meet your mentor today, right? The one from the Korean student organization?”

 

“Yeah, I did. We had Chipotle together.” At that Minhyun laughed and replied, ‘Nice.’ “His name is Kang Daniel. He’s a sophomore but one year younger than us.”

 

“Oh? A younger sunbae then?” Minhyun’s brows disappeared behind his bangs. “I guess that’s not a surprise. How was meeting with him?”

 

Seongwoo took some time to share how he and Daniel became pretty close by the end of their hangout, and how Daniel already had invited him to hang out with him and his roommate on Friday. Minhyun also shared some news about himself, which mostly involved getting dragged around the campus as the 2nd year representative of his major, cleaning up after other students, and trying to organize events. Seongwoo crinkled his nose, feeling quite sympathetic for his friend; Seongwoo didn’t attend college in Korea but was a class president in high school and while he enjoyed serving his schoolmates, he was absolutely drained and burnt out by the end of the year. Seongwoo could only imagine it being worse in college.

 

“I have to go because I have a quiz to study for, but Seongwoo,” Minhyun beamed at him, his happiness and relief evident even through the camera, “I want to tell you that I’m proud of you for signing up for that mentor-mentee program, and Daniel seems like a really friendly guy. He sounds like he can be a good friend to you, so I’m relieved.”

 

Minhyun knew what had happened to Seongwoo in Korea, and knew that Seongwoo pretty much considered Minhyun his only friend and depended on him a lot. He was the one who suggested and urged Seongwoo to go abroad, for Seongwoo’s sake of course, and Seongwoo knew that Minhyun had been worrying about him all this time.

 

“It’s all thanks to you, Minhyun,” Seongwoo chuckled, feeling suddenly embarrassed by the change in mood, “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have come here, and I wouldn’t have signed up for that program. I would’ve been too chicken to leave Korea and I would’ve let myself suffocate to death there. School just started, but – I have a good feeling about this, so I hope you won’t have to worry so much about me from now on.”

 

His video call with Minhyun turned out to be…unexpectedly emotional, but it did leave Seongwoo with soft, mellow feelings. If things continued this way, maybe he will be able to mend his broken, tattered heart and begin a new life soon.

 

Seongwoo was mulling over his conversation with Minhyun while staring at the dark cellphone screen when it suddenly lit up with a yellow notification preview…then multiple notifications following suit. They came in such short intervals that his phone was practically vibrating in his hands the whole time.

 

**Daniel Kang** : Hyung, have you had Panda Express before?

**Daniel Kang** : If you haven’t, you need to try that too (emoticon)

**Daniel** **Kang** : (emoticon)

**Daniel** **Kang** : (emoticon)

**Daniel** **Kang** : I haven’t had it in forever! I’m drooling already

**Daniel** **Kang** : Friday needs to come faster

**Daniel** **Kang** : Oh wait, we’re eating In-N-Out…

**Daniel** **Kang** : We can save Panda Express for another time then!

**Daniel** **Kang** : (emoticon)

 

When Seongwoo opened KakaoTalk, he realized that Daniel had sent these emoticons of a hyper [Samoyed](http://cds.myktoon.com/download?file=/img/webtoon/thumb/2017/05/16/1494917293281.jpg) dog from a popular webtoon, which made Seongwoo chuckle to himself at how this character was in sync with Daniel.

 

1 Whoa, calm down, boy 

1 We have all the time in the world for food adventures 

1 12:37 AM   Maybe we should start a list to keep track lol

 

As if Daniel was waiting for his reply, all the 1’s next to his messages disappeared as soon as he sent the last message.

 

**Daniel Kang**

I hope you don’t take that back, hyung

I’m a serious person when it comes to food

Like real serious

Like super duper serious

I’ll take you to all the matjib’s that I know   12:38 AM

And make sure that you gain some weight  
because your legs are like the size of my arms   12:39 AM

 

Seongwoo was about to laugh out loud when his roommate walked in and had to stifle his laughter with a cough. They exchanged awkward greetings before the roommate gathered his toiletries and went off to the bathroom. Throughout the whole exchange, his phone was still vibrating impatiently with Daniel’s unending messages about food.

 

Stop it, you’re making me so hungry right now 

And I’m too lazy to go grab something from the cafeteria 

12:41 AM   Man I miss the food delivery service in Korea

 

**Daniel Kang**

No kidding, hyung, you have no idea how much I want  
delivery jjajangmyeon sometimes :( 

Ugh I’m getting hungry too

Maybe it’s time for some ramyun lol   12:42 AM

 

For a dancer you sure don’t stick to a strict diet lol 

12: 42 AM   You go and eat your ramyun 

12:43 AM   This old man is going to bed

 

**Daniel Kang**

NOOOOO

Stay up with me

:(

:(

:(

Just kidding, I know you have an 8AM class  
tomorrow   12:43 AM 

And as a good mentor, I should encourage you  
to attend your classes and excel in them 

I guess

(emoticon)

Sweet dreams hyung!   12:44 AM

(emoticon)   12:45 AM

 

Oh wow a sudden change in mind I see lol 

Talk to you later Daniel

12:46 AM   Good night

 

Seongwoo fell asleep in a good mood and woke up in a better mood when he wasn’t bothered by any nightmares overnight. They were starting to go away while he was still in Korea but had intensified again after he moved here, so he was pleased. And when he found Daniel had bombarded their chatroom with pictures of his ramyun, his selca with the ramyun, and various links to some restaurants in the area, Seongwoo had to stop himself from laughing since his roommate was still blissfully asleep across the room.

 

**Daniel Kang**

We’ll go on all these adventures together  
and make good memories, hyung! 

I’ll make sure of that   02:14 AM

And that’s a promise!!!

Okay good night for real!

(emoticon)   02:15 AM

 

Whatever adventures Los Angeles had in store for him, Seongwoo was now excited to find out – he stretched his long limbs out across the bed as he smiled to himself and typed out an answer for Daniel swiftly. He really had a good feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jagi = honey  
> matjib = famous and delicious food place
> 
> I haven't published anything online in yearssss! Please be gentle with me, the Internet is a scary place...  
> Because I'm not creative, I stole the title from Somdef's 'One Plus One,' which features Loco and Bravo! It's a great song b


	2. feat. In-N-Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.
> 
> Mentions of past outing and Ongniel being emotional?

“Are you sure that you don’t need me to pick you up from your dorm? I really don’t mind the drive!” Seongwoo winced a little as he hastily lowered the speaker volume on his phone. Daniel was half-screaming over the noise at In-N-Out, his voice loud enough to compete with that of a girl who was screaming ‘Number 52, number 52’ into a microphone in the background. “I can pick you up on my way back home!”

 

“I don’t mind, your place is only two stops away on the shuttle anyways. And I’m not sure if I’ll be ready by the time you’re here,” Seongwoo flipped through his textbook while nibbling on his bottom lip; he had an assignment that was due in 30 minutes and was rushing to finish it. “I’ll let you know when I head out. Sorry for this mess.”

 

“No problem, you can’t help that your professor is sadistic and makes an assignment due on a Friday evening,” Daniel murmured just as the girl from before screamed, ‘Number 58, number 58!’ “Oh, that’s my order – thank you. Well hyung, just let me know when you head out. I hope you come soon though, you need to enjoy this burger when it’s at its best – freshly cooked and warm!”

 

“I know, I know,” Seongwoo sighed, a small smile on his face as he reached for his lecture notes, “See you soon, Daniel.”

 

“See you soon!”

 

When Daniel hung up and his phone screen reverted to his home page, Seongwoo let out the sigh that he had been holding and groaned in distress as he held his head in his hands and twisted around in agony. He and Daniel had been talking ever since their first meeting on Tuesday, and Seongwoo was so excited to hang out with him today – only to have his mood ruined by this stupid coding assignment that the professor whipped out last minute just because they didn’t have enough time to get through all the problems in class. Daniel said he shouldn’t feel bad for it but – the fact of the matter was that Daniel and his roommate Jaehwan (plus Daniel’s two cats Peter and Rooney) now had to wait for his sorry ass to finish this assignment while the In-N-Out burgers sat in their living room getting cold.

 

**Daniel Kang**

I can see you sitting there and moping 

No moping allowed!!!!   05:33 PM

Just let me know when you head out :)

You can do this!

(emoticon)   05:34 PM

 

Seongwoo shouldn’t be this worked up over this assignment – after all, it was a minor problem that got in the way of his Friday hangout (first one ever) with Daniel. Yeah, he did hype himself up throughout this week as he messaged back and forth with Daniel, but it was only a 30 minute to an hour delay, not a cancellation of their plans. But at the same time, it was his first friend-friend social encounter with another person aside from Minhyun – he knew he had to pull this off well and come out of the iron fortress that he had built around his heart.

 

Seongwoo didn’t realize how much he missed people – he was always a people person, always loved being in the crowd, and always loved making them laugh. Not being able to do so for the past year and half had been such a lonely experience for Seongwoo. He was ready to move on, honestly.

 

Encouraged by the dancing Apeach, Seongwoo managed to finish his assignment on time. He took a quick shower – he was gross since he had to turn in another assignment in today and didn’t have time to wash earlier – and after throwing a black hoodie over his white t-shirt and black jeans on, he headed out of his dorm an hour after they were supposed to meet. He was glad that his roommate was out for the night to witness him during his mini mental breakdown.

 

Seongwoo shivered a little when he walked into the chilly night of southern California. He was glad that he decided to wear a hoodie; he kept forgetting that the temperature difference was big between day and night, since he always stayed in his dorm after sundown. Hastening his pace, Seongwoo sent a quick text to Daniel and was looking for his ID when a black Hyundai Elantra pulled up to the curb next to him. Seongwoo jumped when a honk sounded and echoed throughout the empty parking lot.

 

“Seongwoo-hyung!” a gleeful Daniel with an ever-so-sunny smile greeted when the window on the passenger’s side rolled down, “Hi!”

 

“What in the world,” Seongwoo laughed while still clutching onto his pounding heart, “You scared me, Daniel!”

 

“Get in, get in,” Daniel reached over and opened the door for him, and Seongwoo couldn’t help but to respond with a big smile and get inside.

 

The moment he entered the car, the smell of hamburgers and fries hit his nose sharply. “Did you wait for me after getting In-N-Out?!” Seongwoo looked back in surprise, and there they were, hamburgers and fries in a paper box sitting in the backseat. “You really didn’t have to!”

 

“Nah, I wanted to,” Daniel chuckled as he smoothly drove out of the parking lot, “I figured it’s less waiting if I picked you up, you know? Instead of waiting for you to wait for a shuttle, get on the shuttle, get shuttled 2 stops, getting off the shuttle, and coming up to my place.”

 

“You really couldn’t wait 10-15 minutes? Really, Daniel?” Seongwoo laughed and put his belt on, “Someone’s excited.”

 

“Can’t help it, I’ve been waiting for our hangout _aaaaaaall_ week, you don’t even understand,” Daniel huffed, a smile still on his face, “And my place is only 5 minutes away by car anyway! You should feel honored. Oh, and did you turn in that assignment okay?”

 

Their conversation on the way to Daniel’s place was lighthearted and easy, and Seongwoo felt all the pent up stress and tension leaving his body, allowing him to relax into the seat. There was just something peaceful about Daniel’s presence, the smell of In-N-Out permeating the car, EDM playing softly in the background, and the trickle of chilly California night wind blowing through his hair. So when their car ride came to an end, Seongwoo came out of the car unsatisfied.

 

“That was too short,” he sighed. “After I got my acceptance letter, I got a driver’s license and I would drive all over Seoul. I kind of miss that.”

 

“Oh, so you like to go out for drives?” Daniel smiled as he blocked Seongwoo’s arms from reaching the In-N-Out to-go box, “I will carry that, thank you, I’m the younger one so you can’t stop me! Anyways, I thought most people in Korea just took buses or subways to get around? Most of my friends in Korea don’t have driver’s license yet.”

 

“We had a spare car at our house because my older sister left it to go study abroad in Europe. I thought it would be a waste to let it just sit there, so I just took the opportunity to drive it around. I loved driving though, it was my outlet whenever I felt too stressed or had too many thoughts running through my head,” Daniel had his hands full with the to-go box so Seongwoo snatched up the cup holders with their drinks, sticking his tongue out when Daniel made a protesting noise, “I wish I can drive around here too, but I haven’t really looked up how to get a driver’s license and all that yet.”

 

“We can look it up together then. I can help you if there are words that you don’t know,” Daniel chuckled, “This way!”

 

It was a nice apartment complex that wasn’t too shabby, which was impressive – it was probably expensive considering that they were in Los Angeles and near the campus. When Seongwoo made an impressed face and nodded slowly at Daniel, the younger one shook his head and gave him a shy smile and a playful jab at his side, since Daniel’s hands were full.

 

“I’m not trying to brag or anything but I got some scholarship last year for winning first place in a dance competition! That’s the only reason why I get to live in this nice apartment complex, and oh, my roommate’s parents own this place – can you press up? Thanks, hyung,” Daniel smiled sweetly at him, not that his smile ever left his face anyways. He looked somewhat embarrassed though, with his red ears. Seongwoo was sure that he probably would have scratched his eyelids if his hands weren’t so full.

 

“Wow, that’s a low-key way to brag about your talent, I guess,” Seongwoo scoffed and pretended to ignore the playful glare that was sent his way, not intimidated at all; if anything the other man looked like a sulking Samoyed puppy. “You must be really good at dance though, Daniel! Well, you did say that you were the top student in your class, I shouldn’t be surprised. Don’t forget me when you get famous!”

 

When Seongwoo pretended to cry, Daniel playfully headbutted his shoulder. “What are you saying, hyung? You should be the one to not forget me when you’re living the high life in Silicon Valley after graduation!”

 

The tip of his tongue prickled with an urge to say, ‘I’ll most likely be forced out of this country as soon as my visa expires,’ but Seongwoo managed to stop himself. That was probably for another time, another conversation – right now, he was just here to establish and solidify his friendship with Daniel. So instead, he headbutted Daniel back, right into the center of his broad chest, “What are you, a puppy? I’ve never met anyone who headbutted me.” He rubbed the top of his head against the hard, fleshy surface for a good measure before pulling back.

 

However, Seongwoo was caught off guard when Daniel all of sudden leaned into him, his nose brushing past Seongwoo’s ears and into his hair. Seongwoo stilled and held his breath as he felt Daniel’s chilled earrings tingle against the skin of his cheek – but Daniel withdrew just as fast as he came.

 

“Did you just take a shower? You smell good,” he exclaimed, so casually, as if he just didn’t stick his nose into Seongwoo’s hair, “What shampoo do you use?”

 

His heart was still pounding, probably from the surprise. “Uhh, Elastine, it’s a Korean shampoo,” he muttered, resisting the urge to rub at the nonexistent burn on his cheek left behind by Daniel’s dangly earrings, “I’ve been just using whatever my parents packed for me. And yeah, I took a shower right before coming out.”

 

“It smells really good on you,” Daniel nodded to himself, gesturing for Seongwoo to get in when the elevator arrived, “Fourth floor, please!”

 

You were just surprised, Seongwoo, stop getting self-conscious. That’s what Seongwoo told himself as he pressed the 4 and tried to calm his pounding heart. He could also feel the prickle of a flush rising slowly from his chest to face. Calm down.

 

Before the flush became obvious, the elevator door opened and Seongwoo bolted out as soon as he felt the cold air of the air conditioner hit his face. Daniel laughed behind him about him being impatient, but whatever. Seongwoo let his face cool down a bit before turning around to let Daniel catch up and lead him to his apartment.

 

Daniel didn’t even have to reach for his keys, the door opened as soon as they reached the front steps. Seongwoo blinked in surprise behind Daniel, who jumped a little.

 

“What the fuck, Jaehwan! I almost dropped these,” Daniel laughed, which was followed by a high-pitched laughter that Seongwoo was caught off guard by.

 

“I was dying of hunger, you ass, hurry up and bring the goods in. Please, come in, hyungnim,” a guy with chubby cheeks and pointy ears opened the door wide for both Daniel and Seongwoo, grinning extra wide for Seongwoo as he nervously stepped inside. “You can give me that – I’ll leave this on the living room table!”

 

Before Seongwoo could react, Jaehwan snatched the drinks out of his hands and hopped over to the coffee table in the living room. (Daniel complained about having to untie his shoelaces with the box in his hands but Jaehwan pointedly ignored him. Seongwoo had to help him out instead.)

 

“I’m Kim Jaehwan, this doofus’s roommate and best friend from high school,” Jaehwan extended a hand out to him. Seongwoo blinked at it for a moment before catching himself and shaking his hand. He kept forgetting that shaking hands when first introducing oneself was a thing here. “Daniel has been talking nonstop about you for the past couple days, it doesn’t feel like I’m meeting you for the first time. Is it okay if I called you hyung?”

 

“Of course, and you can drop the formal speech too,” Seongwoo sheepishly scratched the side of his neck. He felt a little awkward, but it wasn’t a horrible feeling. “I’m Ong Seongwoo. Are you part of the organization too?”

 

“Yeah, I have my own mentee too. I got kind of dragged into it because Niel here is a child who can’t do anything on his own and wanted to do it, so,” Jaehwan rolled his eyes, which made Daniel yell out ‘Hey!’ incredulously in the background as he was rummaging around the kitchen to look for napkins. “It’s fine though, I got to meet a cute little hoobae, so full of hope and energy that will diminish in a nanosecond as soon as midterms start. Maybe you’ll see him around sometime.”

 

Seongwoo laughed out loud, liking Jaehwan already. He and Daniel had this unmistakable air of best friends around them, just making fun of each other and bickering over the littlest things. It made him miss Minhyun.

 

In-N-Out was good, even when it was lukewarm and a little soggy from Seongwoo’s delay, and Seongwoo could only imagine how good it would be when warm and fresh. At Seongwoo’s slightly disheartened face, Daniel laughed and said they can do an In-N-Out run some other time, also adding that In-N-Out was better at midnight anyways. Jaehwan chimed in and said Daniel was going to get fat and be unable to do his pirouettes – he got a firm punch to the side for that comment. At least the fries were good, revived by Jaehwan’s amazing air fryer – courtesy of his parents.

 

Over In-N-Out, Seongwoo found out that Jaehwan was in music major and that his parents were famous in Korea – his father being a composer and mother a singer, which explained how they could afford a two-bedroom apartment in west LA, of all places. Jaehwan said since his parents were musicians, they were supportive in letting him pursue music as well.

 

Jaehwan had moved here in high school, when he had befriended Daniel and became best friends ever since. He told little tidbits about their high school days – what with Daniel being a popular kid at school, graduating with the title of Prom King over his head – and how everyone loved Daniel and would ask him out every other day throughout the four years in high school. Daniel only laughed shyly in the background, protesting when Jaehwan exaggerated his stories (but Seongwoo noticed that he didn’t deny his popularity).

 

After tending to their hungry stomachs, Jaehwan and Daniel gave him a quick tour of their humble two-bedroom apartment. Daniel proudly declared that he had cleaned his room prior to Seongwoo’s arrival and it was indeed clean. Jaehwan added a comment about how Daniel’s room had never been this clean and that Daniel was trying so hard to impress Seongwoo. (He got another jab in the side for that.) Seongwoo briefly got introduced to Rooney and Peter, who were too shy to come out and were hiding under Daniel’s bed, to his disappointment.

 

No one was surprised that Jaehwan’s room was messy – cluttered with clothes, notes, and musical instruments, even though Jaehwan insisted that he was usually cleaner than this (to which Daniel replied with ‘Sure,’ stifled with a cough).

 

Over the last couple days, they decided on watching a movie. At first Daniel wanted to watch a Marvel movie since Seongwoo hadn’t watched a lot of them (“Hyung, we can’t be friends if you don’t watch all of them!” Daniel declared over KakaoTalk, an enraged Apeach stomping its feet following suit.), but they decided on ‘Midnight in Paris’ to accommodate both of their tastes. Daniel said it was his fourth time watching this movie, but didn’t mind watching it because it was one of his favorites – on the other hand, it was both Seongwoo and Jaehwan’s first time watching it.

 

The three of them finally situated themselves in the living room to watch the movie: Seongwoo and Daniel on the couch, and Jaehwan splayed out on the floor. Daniel brought out the popcorn as the title sequence played. A little too buttery for Seongwoo’s taste, but still good enough to set the mood for movie night.

 

They talked about how none of them had been to Paris during the beginning, gasping and admiring the cinematography, but before the movie was even halfway done, Jaehwan was asleep. Daniel shrugged like it was a normal occurrence and threw a blanket over him, Jaehwan snuggling into it almost immediately. Both Daniel and Seongwoo snickered at the sight before turning their attention back to the movie.

 

“You and Jaehwan seem really close,” Seongwoo sighed after a moment, admitting it out loud now, “I miss my friend too. If I stuck to my plans, we would have been like you two, attending college together and having a good time.”

 

“Is this the friend you talked about before? Minhyun?” Daniel’s voice was soft, “You said he goes to Seoul University for medicine, right?”

 

“Yeah, he’s the one,” Seongwoo couldn’t help but to fiddle with the cushion that was sitting in his lap. “I’m not trying to brag or anything, but,” both of them chuckled at that, recalling their little exchange from earlier, “I almost went to Seoul University too. Minhyun and I became friends in high school, we went to a pretty reputable one in Seoul – and ever since then, we promised each other that we’d go to the same university. It’s just, things didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to.”

 

Seongwoo swallowed, his throat feeling dry. There it was again, this unexplainable effortlessness with Daniel; there were secrets that he only shared with Minhyun, and not even with his parents, but here he was, ready to share his whole being with Daniel despite only knowing him for 4 days. It was Daniel’s peaceful presence, in the way he blinked slowly, his lips drawn downwards in an empathetic way, and his gentles nods that prompted Seongwoo on.

 

Seongwoo was always a careful person; he loved people, but he didn’t trust them a whole lot, didn’t expect the same love to be reciprocated all the time. That was why he usually kept his distance. But with Daniel, it was just…different. He made Seongwoo want to pour his heart out without expecting anything in return.

 

“It’s okay, hyung, you don’t have to tell me if you feel uncomfortable,” Daniel reached out at and held his hand, his thumb rubbing the back of his hand in comforting circular motions. “But if you want to share, I’m here for you.”

 

“I’m pouring my heart out to you again, this is weird. I’m telling you, I never do this with other people, especially without alcohol,” Seongwoo laughed, “It’s okay, though. Somehow I have a feeling that you won’t judge me no matter what.”

 

“Of course, and I’ll also never tell another soul,” Daniel nodded firmly, his brown eyes boring into his as his thumb continued caressing his hand. Jaehwan remained blissfully asleep, snoring a little as he turned over.

 

“I’ll take your words for that, Daniel. Don’t you dare betray me,” he said lightheartedly, even though Daniel didn’t laugh, just giving him an encouraging, gentle smile in return. “Well…before graduation, someone outed me on the Seoul University’s freshmen Facebook group. With a video of me making out with a random guy that I met at a club.”

 

Daniel gasped, his hold on Seongwoo’s hand tightening.

 

“Yeah,” Seongwoo laughed again, a nervous tinge apparent this time, “I’m gay, Daniel. Surprise?”

 

“I’m really sorry that happened to you, hyung,” Daniel muttered, the gentle circles coming back.

 

“Well, it was my mistake too. I went to Jongno for the first time and got too excited – I was naïve and didn’t realize that someone would have that kind of bad intentions and out me like that all over social media,” Seongwoo looked back down at the cushion and shifted the stuffing around with his free hand; it seemed a little too crooked for his taste.

 

“No hyung, that’s not okay. That’s not okay for someone to do, no matter what.” Daniel gave his hand another squeeze.

 

“At least no one in my high school found out, only because that was a private group. Minhyun got the administrator to take that post down, threatening to sue them. But it was too late by then, everyone in our freshmen class found out that I was gay because of the video,” Seongwoo sighed as he dug through his memories; they were something that he had kept buried over the last year and a half. He just didn’t want to think about it and wanted to move on, even though he knew it wasn’t the best idea. “I couldn’t live with that fact – back then, it had only been a couple months since I’ve finally come to terms with my sexuality, you know? And being outed like that with a _video_ on top of that? I never planned on coming out of the closet publicly, at least not in Korea. I knew there were better ways to deal with it but I was too scared to face all that. So in the end, I decided to run away instead.”

 

And if it weren’t for Minhyun, he was sure that he never would’ve been able to recover from all that. At least Minhyun gave him the idea of escaping from Korea and start a new life here. And with his new friendship with Daniel and Jaehwan, he thought maybe he did the right thing by moving here. Of course, that didn’t solve the problems that he would eventually have to face when he goes back to Korea one day, but still; he could at least move on with his life for now.

 

“You call it a runaway, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” Daniel murmured. His facial features were dimly highlighted by the movie playing on the TV, which gave him a soft glow. “At least while you’re away from Korea, you can mend your heart and strengthen yourself so that you can go back later and fight your problems. Sometimes the world can be too big for us – it’s okay to hide and grow up a little.”

 

Daniel paused then, eyes briefly flickering from left to right as if he was contemplating something, before he continued.

 

“I was lucky, hyung. Growing up here, being surrounded by diverse people, and being a dancer – no one questions who I am, what I’ve grown up to be.” Even though Daniel’s voice was soft, Seongwoo felt as though his voice was loud and speaking right into his heart. “If there are people who think otherwise to themselves, then I just choose to ignore them because I know that there are people who support me no matter what.”

 

“Like Jaehwan?” Seongwoo chuckled, gesturing to Jaehwan, who had nearly kicked the blanket off him even though he was curled up like he was cold.

 

“Yeah, like Jaehwan, even though he pretends to be an ass about it. My mom too,” Daniel rolled his eyes, but his affection for his friend was apparent in the way he leaned down to pull the blanket up for Jaehwan – even though he used his feet to do that, “That’s really the only reason why I was able to come to terms with me being bisexual. If I stayed in Korea, I don’t know if I could be the confident person that I am today. So _I_ think you’re real brave.”

 

Oh. Seongwoo’s lips parted in surprise. He had just assumed that Daniel was like any other Korean guys and was heterosexual – he felt bad for assuming but Daniel seemed to understand, beaming at him while playing with his hand. Seongwoo’s hand looked so small encased in Daniel’s large hands.

 

“Maybe I’m saying this too soon after we’ve met, but I have a feeling that fate brought us together as mentor and mentee in Los Angeles for a reason. Believe it or not, it’s my first time opening myself up and telling someone everything about me so quickly,” at Seongwoo’s surprised expression, Daniel’s eyes curved into little crescents, “I know, I know. I seem so friendly and social, but I don’t go around telling everyone everything about myself, not especially within 4 days of knowing them. You can even ask Jaehwan about this, he’ll tell you.”

 

As if he heard his name, Jaehwan groaned and rolled over to the other side. The two giggled at that briefly. The movie was already over and the credits were rolling before they even realized.

 

When it came to his relationship with Minhyun, he knew he and Minhyun got along well because they were with similar; they both had similar interests, goals, and personality. With Daniel, it wasn’t like that. As they both admitted during their first meeting, they were so different, not only in their interests but also in their personalities. If not for the circumstances that Seongwoo was under, Seongwoo wasn’t sure if he and Daniel would’ve become friends.

 

In that sense, after listening to Daniel, Seongwoo had to agree on how his new friendship with Daniel seemed so…magical.

 

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that we’ll go on all these adventures and make good memories together,” Daniel scratched his eyelid, looking suddenly sheepish, “You said you regret that you didn’t go to Seoul University and have fun with your friend…well, you can do that with me now. I’m not sure if you have as much fun with me as you do with your friend, but –”

 

“Of course I have fun with you, Daniel,” Seongwoo snickered, “If it wasn’t fun to hang out with you, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. I’m not _that_ desperate for company.”

 

“That’s good then.” There was a brief pause before Daniel pointed at his left cheek, “Oh, you have moles here. I didn’t notice before.”

 

“Yeah, they’re kind of my trademark,” Seongwoo grinned, and poked at his cheek three times in the general vicinity of where they were at. “They form a triangle, see?”

 

“Like a constellation,” Daniel whispered as he reached out and cupped Seongwoo’s cheek, making Seongwoo jump a little. He swiped his thumb over them, his touch just as light as butterfly wings, and Seongwoo felt the blunt end of his thumbnail pressing in gently where his three moles were at. “That’s beautiful.”

 

Seongwoo couldn’t help but to hold his breath when he looked up at that comment and met Daniel’s warm brown eyes. Time seemed to stop between them, and at that moment all that Seongwoo could focus on was Daniel’s soft gaze and the warmth on his cheek. When warmth was added to his other cheek, Seongwoo’s heart started pounding so violently in his chest that he couldn’t hear anything besides the sound of his heartbeat.

 

And when Daniel’s eyes flickered downwards –

                                                                                               

“Mm, what time is it?”

 

The two broke apart quickly when Jaehwan stirred and sat up with a scrunched up face, to which Daniel replied after a pause after fumbling with his phone to check the time, “Uh, it’s around 1:15AM. You should go to bed.”

 

“Thanks for waking me up, jackass, I’m going to bed. Good night and see you next time, Seongwoo-hyung. Sorry for falling asleep on you guys,” Jaehwan waved at Seongwoo and trudged back to his room, the blanket dragging after him. Seongwoo dumbly replied, ‘Good night,’ unable to turn around and look at Daniel at this moment, even though he could see Daniel shifting around busily at the corner of his eyes.

 

“Um, I can drop you off at your dorm, hyung,” Daniel scratched the back of his head as he walked over to the kitchen to look around for his keys. Even from the back and the dim lighting of the living room, Seongwoo could see that his ears were bright red, contrasting sharply with his bright brown hair.

 

“Sure. Thanks, Daniel,” he managed to reply, his throat dry, following Daniel out of his apartment after making sure that he had his wallet and keys.

 

The car ride back to his dorm was quiet, the atmosphere not quite as easy and comfortable as it was previously, when they were heading to Daniel’s place. But Seongwoo couldn’t say anything to break the silence, other than typical comments about how he had a lot of fun, how he was sad that he didn’t get to play with Peter and Rooney, and that they should hang out again. Daniel, uncharacteristically, didn’t say much either, only agreeing to what Seongwoo said with a small smile.

 

But it was with smiles on both of their faces that they parted, Seongwoo waving at Daniel and gesturing for Daniel to go while Daniel laughed and gestured him to go back in first. In the end, Seongwoo lost the battle and headed back to the dorm. Only when he entered the bright lobby did the black Elantra drive away, disappearing into the bright night lights of Los Angeles. A bored-looking girl sitting at the reception desk held out her hand to snatch his ID away and swipe him in. As he dazedly took his ID back and rode the elevator back up to his dorm, a bright red flush began to creep on his face and remained unfazed even when the drunk-looking girl next to him started hurling up the content of her stomach onto the elevator floor.

 

And Seongwoo’s heart was still pounding, except he knew for certain that it wasn’t pounding out of surprise this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if there are random Korean words I put in here that you need translations for!  
> Thanks for reading <3


	3. feat. Panda Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.
> 
> Original female character (who's not very likable)  
> Ong is in denial  
> Slow, but there's progress

It wasn’t a surprise anymore to see Daniel standing in front of the engineering building, his ever-so-bright-red skateboard in his left hand as he used his right hand to scroll through whatever social media platform he was on.

 

Daniel perked up like an alert puppy looking for his owner, as Seongwoo slowly made his way towards him. But the sight of Daniel beaming at him under the bright California sun wasn’t something that Seongwoo’s heart was quite used to yet.

 

“Hyung!” Daniel rushed over in a second to meet Seongwoo halfway, hands immediately reaching out for Seongwoo’s textbook, “Took you forever to come out!”

 

“Hey! It’s not my fault that the professor decided to go over one extra example and go overtime,” Seongwoo grumbled as he handed Daniel his book and stretched his long limbs out; they were so stiff from being stuck in a small chair, “You didn’t have to wait out here, the sun is extra bright today. I could’ve met you at the sandwich place.”

 

“Nah, I told you already – I don’t mind the wait,” Daniel held onto Seongwoo’s textbook despite his protest, “Besides, I know you’re going to get lost if I don’t walk with you. Remember when you went to the opposite side of the campus? When we were trying to grab some ramen?”

 

“That was when I still wasn’t used to the campus and I will assure you, I’m a pro at navigating this campus now,” Seongwoo puffed out his chest, to which Daniel giggled and slapped his chest in response. “Is Jaehwan joining us today?”

 

“He is. He said he’ll meet us there,” Daniel grabbed him by the elbow and led him away from the crowd, “This way!”

 

“I’m not a kid, Daniel!” Seongwoo protested but didn’t shake off Daniel’s hold on his arm. “Isn’t it faster to go that way?”

 

“Oh mentee, my mentee – this mentor will lead you to the light,” Daniel tutted and shook his head, the same sunny smile still on his face.

 

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he and Daniel spent all their free times together – whether it was through texting, phone calls, video calls, or in each other’s physical presence. They texted all throughout the day, ate both lunch and dinner together if possible, studied together, and hung out if not bombarded by assignments, exams, or practicals. Even Jaehwan joked about how Seongwoo probably saw Daniel more despite him and Daniel being roommates and best friends.

 

Except for that one incident, Seongwoo made sure to not tread beyond the friendship boundary, even though Seongwoo himself wasn’t quite sure where that boundary was in this relationship. So Seongwoo was keeping to this arbitrary line that he had drawn between him and Daniel – he never spent the night at Daniel’s place, didn’t message Daniel back if it was too late, and made sure to say no to some of their hangouts.

 

It wasn’t like he suspected Daniel to have any sort of intention towards him. It was more for himself, so that he wouldn’t get attached to Daniel in _that_ way since he felt the potential for his feelings to get deeper that night. He just wanted to be extra cautious.

 

Jaehwan waved at them nonchalantly as they entered the sandwich place, their foods already out and ready in the seats next to and across from Jaehwan per Seongwoo’s request. Daniel said he was starting to get dizzy from hunger as they were walking, so Seongwoo asked Jaehwan to go ahead and order their usual.

 

“What’s up,” Jaehwan greeted before taking a bite from his sandwich. Daniel clapped him on the shoulder and slid into the seat next to him, Seongwoo taking the seat across from them. Daniel’s feet bumped into his as they got situated. “I don’t know how you’re alive right now, Niel, weren’t you playing Battlegrounds all night? I heard your intermittent screams of despair until I fell asleep and that was around 3AM.”  


“Yeah, I’ve been pretty good at waking up every morning though,” Daniel shrugged as he hastily shoved some fries into his mouth, “Nothing that a cup of coffee can’t fix.”

 

“You mean your black concoction of death,” Seongwoo quipped, his cheeks full of food already.

 

“Well, you shouldn’t say anything, hyung. What you drink is coffee-flavored milk with a hint of caramel. That’s not real coffee,” Jaehwan snickered into his sandwich while Seongwoo spluttered. “Daniel, you talk as if you didn’t miss more than half of your literature class lectures last quarter. Seongwoo-hyung is going to think that you’re such a diligent early bird!”

 

“I _am_ diligent!” Daniel’s eyebrows were drooping downwards in indignation. “And to be fair, that English literature class didn’t take attendance and lectures were useless anyways!”

 

“Uh, did attendance ever stop you from not attending class? I don’t think so,” Jaehwan rolled his eyes, “I haven’t seen you up before noon ever since we entered college.”

 

Seongwoo was looking at Daniel in shock, his eyes as big as saucers. The only reason why they started eating lunch together (plus/minus Jaehwan, depending on his condition and schedule) was because Seongwoo mentioned skipping lunch often because he was too lazy, and Daniel was not okay with that. “Daniel! Is that true?”

 

“It’s not what you think, hyung,” Daniel was scratching his eyelid, his ears and neck slowly coloring, “I’m totally not going out of my way to eat lunch with you – nope, just trying to live a healthy lifestyle, force myself to go to bed early and wake up early, you know?”

 

“Please,” Jaehwan rolled his eyes again and yelped when Daniel’s elbow jabbed into his side immediately.

 

“No, seriously! I’ve been meaning to wake up in the morning and jog before my classes,” Daniel hastily added. His ears and neck were red at this point.

 

“Sure, Daniel. You can tell us that after your sleep-deprived swollen eyelids are not swollen anymore,” Jaehwan managed to avoid Daniel’s jab this time, practically jumping out of his seat in order to do so. Seongwoo was impressed how he was still clutching his sandwich without dropping a single ingredient. “You look like someone punched you in the eyes. Just without the bruises.”

 

“Oh…yeah, I know,” Daniel sighed dejectedly, “I almost didn’t come to school today because I looked so ugly in the mirror.”

 

“I think you’re cute,” Seongwoo blurted out without thinking, not realizing that he said it until he noticed Jaehwan and Daniel staring at him with big eyes, “I mean, your eyelids. Your swollen eyelids. Your swollen eyelids are cute. Like a-puppy-stung-by-a-bee-in-the-eye cute.”

 

Jaehwan started roaring with laughter, his high-pitched laughter drawing everyone’s attention. Seongwoo just shut up and ate his sandwich, trying to ignore Jaehwan’s embarrassing laughter. Daniel also picked up his sandwich and took a huge bite into it; his face was flushed red too.

 

“Oh boy, that’s not convincing at all, Seongwoo-hyung,” Jaehwan wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes, “Not when that statement is coming from your face.”

 

Thankfully, Jaehwan had to leave soon after for his studio class and the two were left to eat their lunch in peace. Daniel’s ears were still red as he cleaned up after Jaehwan’s mess, grumbling about how embarrassing it was to hang out with Jaehwan in public. Seongwoo only laughed in response.

 

They stopped by a Starbucks to grab an iced caramel macchiato – or coffee-flavored milk with a hint of caramel, as Jaehwan put it – and roamed around the campus chatting about how fat campus squirrels were until it was time for Daniel to head to his class.

 

Daniel insisted that they part where they were since his class was so far away, but after a brief internal battle, Seongwoo decided to walk him to his class, reasoning that he was done for the day and Daniel always walked him all over the campus anyways. And he was so full from lunch and coffee anyways, he needed to walk off some of the calories.

 

“What are you going to do for the rest of the day?” Daniel asked, stealing a sip from Seongwoo’s coffee and immediately retreating with a scowl on his face. “Ugh, hyung, this is like sugar water!”

 

“Your black concoction has destroyed your taste buds, you poor child,” Seongwoo shook his head in mock-sadness, “I have an assignment due soon, and a second round of midterms coming up starting next week. I’ll be at the library. You?”

 

“I’m going to be stuck in the dark depth of hell that’s called studio,” Daniel replied with a pout. Seongwoo thought he looked like a sulking Samoyed puppy. “We have a practical next week and I haven’t even started choreographing it.”

 

Seongwoo nodded in sympathy. This was the class that Daniel was most stressed out about, since it mattered a lot for his major and career. Throughout the month that Seongwoo and Daniel had been acquainted with each other, the two of them went through a round of midterms together already and understood the pain each other experienced, even though they were in two completely different majors.

 

“Well, feel free to text or call me if you need a study break,” Daniel sighed as they approached the entrance of dance building. “I would appreciate the break for myself as well. Fighting, Seongwoo-hyung!”

 

“Fighting!” They bumped their fists together and finished it off with their hands shaped like phones, shaking their hands at each other as Seongwoo back-stepped away from the building. Daniel waved at him, beaming yet again with that characteristic puppy smile.

 

Seongwoo couldn’t help but to smile back before turning around to walk away.

 

* * *

 

**Daniel Kang**

Hyung, are you still at the library?

 

Seongwoo blinked in surprise as he checked the time above the KakaoTalk notification. It was 11:16 PM. He hadn’t realized how late it was, engrossed in his assignment. He should probably head back soon. Seongwoo typed a quick reply, saying that he was about to head out, and gathered his things. He blinked again, his eyelids feeling heavy. His eyes were tired from staring at the computer screen for too long and from the bright white lights in the library.

 

Seongwoo sighed as he trudged out of the library, shivering a little as cold air hit him. He had forgotten to bring a jacket yet again, despite knowing that he was going to be out late. He was setting up a reminder on his phone calendar to just keep a jacket in his backpack when warmth suddenly enveloped him from behind. Seongwoo yelped in surprise and turned around, only to find Daniel grinning cheekily at him.

 

“Daniel! Stop doing that,” Seongwoo exclaimed with a hand over his pounding heart. It was a stunt that Daniel pulled often and he kept falling for it. “What are you doing here?”

 

“It’s late and I wanted to walk you to your dorm,” Daniel chirped and zipped up the sweater for Seongwoo without giving him a chance to put his arms through the sleeves. At least the sweater was large enough to wrap around both Seongwoo and his backpack, even though it wasn’t large enough to give his arms a little room to move. Daniel was only wearing a black tank top and a pair of black Adidas track pants.

 

“Aren’t you cold? You should wear your sweater,” Seongwoo frowned, worried that the younger one would catch a cold.

 

“Hyung, I’m sweating right now. I think you need it more,” Daniel leaned in and showed Seongwoo his sweaty bangs. Seongwoo scooted backwards unconsciously when he felt warmth radiating off Daniel, along with the smell of his sweat and peaches. “You can give it back to me when we get to your dorm! I should be cooled off by then so I’ll wear it when I head back.”

 

“Okay then,” Seongwoo shrank in surprise when a particularly cold breeze hit both of them. Daniel giggled and pulled up the hood for him. Seongwoo’s senses were overwhelmed with Daniel’s scent, which smelled like peaches and laundry detergent. “Thanks, Daniel.”

 

Seongwoo’s fatigue was ebbing away thanks to the cold night breeze, in addition to Daniel’s incessant talking. The two talked about their progress with their respective tasks, Seongwoo’s problem being the professor’s sadistic tendencies to assign problems that were too convoluted to solve, and Daniel’s problem being his quest to perfect his choreography even though his joints and muscles were hurting from dancing so much. Seongwoo would’ve offered to give him a little shoulder massage, except his arms were kind of held captive by Daniel’s sweater.

 

The atmosphere was easy and chill just like how their hangouts usually were, but Seongwoo couldn’t help but to become self-conscious every time Daniel’s shoulder bumped against his or when Daniel would casually loop his arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders – essentially every time there was physical contact.

 

And every time Seongwoo looked over at him, Daniel gave him a huge, harmless grin that would make him feel like a terrible person. He hated himself for hoping to see intentions in Daniel’s eyes.

 

Remember where your boundary is at, Seongwoo. Seongwoo told himself, trying to put a little of distance between them without making it seem obvious. Daniel marched on, unaware of Seongwoo’s internal struggle.

 

“I have a ten-page paper to turn in for my theories class next week. Mind if I joined you at the library starting tomorrow?” Daniel asked as he shook his hair and ran his hands through his almost-dry hair. He looked like a dog shaking water off from itself, but Seongwoo decided to not comment on it.

 

“Sure, I’ll save a seat for you if you don’t mind cubicles,” Seongwoo chuckled.

 

Daniel whipped his head around (so fast that Seongwoo thought he heard a crack) and scrunched his nose at him. “Cubicles? But I can’t see your face if we study at cubicles!”

 

Seongwoo swore to god, if Daniel kept this up, his heart was going to stop working sometime soon. “Daniel, I know you desperately want to stare at this face – I know I have a devastatingly good-looking face that can cure blindness – but um, you’re going to be there to write your paper? Hello?”

 

Daniel giggled in response, lightly punching where Seongwoo’s arm was. “Well, I need some kind of motivation to keep writing, don’t I?”

 

Seongwoo huffed, willing his heart to stop pounding, “Well, I’ll let you take a peek at my face every hour if that satisfies you.”

 

“Only if you slowly reveal your face over the cubicle like how the sun in Teletubbies does it,” Daniel snickered, and Seongwoo couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing when he imagined himself doing that at the library, when everyone there is serious and trying desperately to stay focused. The two would most likely get kicked out for causing a ruckus.

 

Daniel slowed his pace as Seongwoo’s dorm building appeared in the distance, only giving a grin in return when Seongwoo looked back with raised eyebrows. Seongwoo let Daniel catch up to him and the two walked in silence until they were right outside the lobby. Seongwoo swung his body from side to side, the sweater sleeves swinging with his movement. Daniel took that as sign to unzip the sweater and free Seongwoo’s arms.

 

“Are you heading back home?” Seongwoo asked, not missing the little pout on Daniel’s face.

 

“Nah, I’m going back to studio. Still got a lot of stuff to work on,” Daniel responded with a smile even though he still looked somewhat sulky, like a puppy that got its toy taken away, “I guess…good night, hyung.”

 

Daniel turned around and started walking away with the sweater in hanging on his arm. Even in the dim streetlights, his broad shoulders were obviously drooping.

 

Seongwoo watched him for a moment, fighting with himself internally, before he ran after Daniel. “Daniel!”

 

Daniel’s eyes were big with surprise as he faced Seongwoo, who grabbed the sweater from his arm and swung it on him. Unlike Daniel, he made sure that Daniel put his arms through the sleeves before zipping the sweater up for him. He finished off with a pat on Daniel’s chest.

 

Boundaries, Seongwoo. His inner voice whispered. Seongwoo ignored it.

 

“Aren’t you hungry? Let me treat you to late night,” Seongwoo said in one breath, “It’s Tuesday, they should have steak.”

 

Daniel beamed at him, his eyes forming little crescents and all trace of his earlier sullenness gone. “I would love that,” he murmured, before glomping Seongwoo and exclaiming cheerfully, “Lead the way!”

 

* * *

 

“Psst, hyung,” Daniel whispered as his face slowly creeped up over the cubicle. Seongwoo had to stifle his laughter with a cough, as they already had received some annoyed looks from other students earlier. “Are you hungry?”

 

Seongwoo looked at the clock. It was almost midnight, and Seongwoo _was_ hungry; he hadn’t eaten anything since 6PM, and even then he just had a sandwich that was sold at the café here. Daniel joined him after he and Jaehwan had dinner together, which was around 7PM. (Jaehwan didn’t join this time because he apparently had stayed up the previous night for a practical and refused to join them at the library when he didn’t have anything due immediately.) Daniel said they had burgers and fries, but Seongwoo knew by now that Daniel’s stomach was like a bottomless pit that needed some kind of food every few hours. Seongwoo gave Daniel a nod and pointed at his phone, mouthing ‘KaTalk.’ Daniel’s head crept back down.

 

11:51PM   Anything you want to eat?

 

**Daniel Kang**

How about some Panda Express? 

I’ve been craving it for a while now

And orange chicken is a perfect midnight snack  
and a midterm season food!   11:52PM 

(emoticon) 

I can go pick it up so you can save our spots   11:53PM

 

I’m good with Panda Express! 

11:53PM   We can go together, though! 

11:54PM   We can leave our stuff here right?

 

**Daniel Kang**

Oh mentee, my mentee…

People are gonna take our stuff if we leave them here

It’s not like Korea here!   11:55PM

I’ll be back soon, jagi. Don’t miss me  
too much while I’m gone   11:56PM

Oh hmm 

I thought we weren’t allowed to eat here 

11:56PM   (emoticon)

 

**Daniel Kang**

Oh psshhh as if people actually follow that rule   11:56PM

Orange chicken is the best when you eat it in  
your cubicle while trying to stay quiet (thumbs up)   11:57PM 

Okay I’ll be back soon

(emoticon)   11:58PM

 

Seongwoo wouldn’t have minded going with Daniel since his legs were feeling cramped. And maybe sneak a smoke break while Daniel was getting the food…Seongwoo wasn’t a heavy smoker but occasionally he needed an additional outlet, since it wasn’t like he could go out for a drive here. Ever since he met Daniel he managed to cut down a lot but this assignment was bringing the cravings back. He wasn’t trying to hide his habit from the younger one, but Seongwoo just never found a good time to tell him.

 

Maybe he could work on his assignment until Daniel came back, tell him that he needed to go to the restroom, and take a smoke break. Or maybe he could go after he had some food in his system since he was starting to get hangry – he figured he could decide when Daniel came back.

 

Except Daniel was taking forever to come back.

 

Seongwoo checked his KakaoTalk chatroom with Daniel. The younger one had said that he had bought the food and was heading back around 10 minutes ago and Seongwoo knew that Panda Express wasn’t too far away from where they were. Seongwoo tapped his feet anxiously, his cravings eating him alive at this point – he tried to distract himself for the last 20 minutes by playing some Minesweeper on his computer but his patience was wearing thin.

 

He waited five more minutes before he stood up from his seat and asked an Asian girl sitting nearby to watch their cubicles. The girl with her dark circles and already-soulless-eyes-from-studying-for-hours gave him an okay sign even without looking at him properly. Seongwoo thanked her hastily and grabbed his jacket, making sure that his cigarettes and lighter were in his pockets before heading out with his cell phone in his other hand.

 

Seongwoo sent a message to Daniel saying that he was going to take a little break outside as he took his place at an inconspicuous spot that was hidden in the bushes some distance away from the library. His fingers were shaking a little as he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag to fill his lungs with smoke. He felt anxiety melting away with each puff and soon enough he was done with the stick. He threw the butt into the ashtray next to him and was licking his lips and contemplating whether or not he should light another one when he heard voices in a distance.

 

Seongwoo peeked over the bushes and saw a familiar figure striding over – that was Daniel in his bright red hoodie – and a smaller figure besides him. Seongwoo quickly shoved his cigarette pack and lighter into his pockets and hid in the shadows, his ears were straining to hear what they were saying.

 

“Kang Daniel, I haven’t seen you around at parties this year. What happened to you?” the girl obviously had some drinks; some of her words, both English and Korean, were slurring together, “Don’t tell me you got yourself a girlfriend!”

 

“Jangmi, we’re sophomores now. I don’t have time for parties anymore, exploring college party life is past behind me,” Daniel laughed in response, also talking back to her in a mixture of English and Korean, “And you’re so fucking wasted right now, I can’t even. Isn’t your evaluation tomorrow? Leslie is going to throw a fit if you don’t do well.”

 

This was the first time that he saw Daniel interact with a girl that wasn’t just an acquaintance; he had met the girl a few times too at the Korean student association meetings, and she seemed to be close enough to Daniel since they both majored in dance.

 

Seongwoo was always intrigued to see Daniel interact casually with his peers, with more crude words and English mixed in. He had gotten a taste of it by seeing him and Jaehwan interact, but even then the two best friends were more careful and tame around him – probably because Seongwoo was older.

 

“Fuck you, I told you to call me Rose! And whatever man, the world’s not going to end if I fail this one time. Leslie can go fuck herself, that entitled bitch thinks she owns the world just because she’s a TA,” the girl flicked Daniel off before hopping from one feet to another with her arms wrapped around herself, “Shit, it’s cold. Can you lend me your jacket? I think I left mine at Alpha Delta Zeta.”

 

“Well, it is almost mid-November and you are only dressed in a thin, short dress,” Daniel said slowly as he looked over her outfit. Seongwoo could also see that the most of Jangmi’s legs were exposed.

 

“Don’t be such a tease, Daniel. Are you going to give it to me or not? Come on,” Jangmi dragged out the last word and held onto Daniel’s arm, rocking back and forth as she pressed herself closer to him.

 

Seongwoo frowned, contemplating whether he should just leave or not. The more he listened in on them, the sourer his mood was getting exponentially, for whatever reason. He was idly playing with his lighter with his thumb pressed against the sparkwheel when Daniel set the to-go boxes down to take his hoodie off for her.

 

“Here. Just remember to return it to me tomorrow,” Daniel said as he handed Jangmi his hoodie, “I’ll text you to remind you.”

 

The girl giggled and lightly punched Daniel in his upper arm, “Thanks! What a good puppy – I’ll buy you food tomorrow.” She immediately threw on the hoodie, which was too large on her, but…she looked cute like that. It was as if she was swimming in her boyfriend’s hoodie. Seongwoo recalled Jaehwan’s offhanded comment about Daniel’s ideal type being an older person who’s cute and small in physique – even though Jangmi was technically the same age as Daniel.

 

Seongwoo frowned again – there was a pang in his chest just now that he was going to ignore.

 

Seongwoo decided to casually walk in on their conversation and revealed himself from the bushes. “Daniel!”

 

“Oh, hyung!” Daniel grinned at him, his face lightening up immediately at the sight of Seongwoo, “What are you doing out here?”

 

“I’m guessing you didn’t see my message? I was taking a little break since you were taking forever with the food and then I heard your voice,” Seongwoo grumbled as he slowly made his way to the couple.

 

“Sorry I was taking so long, I ran into Jangmi at Panda Express and she insisted on walking me back,” Daniel replied sheepishly, mouthing to him behind his cupped hand, ‘She’s so wasted.’ Jangmi must’ve been indeed wasted because she didn’t even notice Daniel doing that. “Hyung, this is Shin Jangmi, my friend, and Jangmi, this is Ong Seongwoo-hyung. He’s my mentee.”

 

Seongwoo only gave a small smile, muttering, “Nice to meet you.”

 

“I’ve met him before! He’s that handsome freshman oppa!” she exclaimed, before grumbling and giving a playful nudge to Daniel’s side, “And I told you already, Kang Daniel – it’s Rose, not Jangmi!”

 

“She doesn’t like being called Jangmi because she thinks it sounds old,” Daniel giggled, “Whatever, man. They mean the same thing anyways.”

 

Jangmi – or Rose – obviously didn’t want to leave, saying that she wanted to get a little more alcohol out of her system before she headed back home (even hinting that Daniel should walk her back to her sorority house), but Daniel managed to convince her to call a friend to come get her. She did so with a pout on her face and when her friend came, she refused to leave until Daniel gave her a parting hug, even threatening to lie down on the cold concrete until he did so. Daniel sort of scratched at his eye area before he obliged.

 

Seongwoo made sure to hide his expression, even as she landed a fleeting farewell kiss to his cheek and Daniel jumped away spluttering and wiping his cheek quickly, ‘Oh my god, you’re so fucking wasted. Go home already!’

 

Culture shock, Seongwoo. He told himself calmly. You’re only uncomfortable because people don’t do that in Korea, especially not between a guy and a girl.

 

Thankfully, their stuff was still there when they returned to their cubicles. Seongwoo gave an awkward wave to the girl from before – she spared him a disinterested gaze before returning to her own work – as they settled in their seats with their own respective Panda Express to-go boxes.

 

He put down his chopsticks after a couple bites and sighed silently to himself.

 

Maybe it was the fact that he was way past his hungry stage, or that he wanted another smoke right now, or maybe because the orange chicken was lukewarm – but it was the least delicious food that he had eaten with Daniel so far.

 

He tried to make his way through the food, stuffing as much orange chicken and chow mein into himself, but in the end, he had to stop himself lest he got indigestion later. Daniel sent him a dancing Apeach emoticon in their chatroom, so at least someone was happy. Seongwoo sent him a [Ryan](https://item.kakaocdn.net/do/4be9625c0426fb7d21c0bff1e8af2e1df43ad912ad8dd55b04db6a64cddaf76d) emoticon giving a thumbs-up before he went back to working on his assignment.

 

When he was only able to go through one problem in the next hour, Seongwoo decided to call it a night. It wasn’t like he had thoughts running crazily through his head, but he just couldn’t concentrate. Not when Daniel was making happy humming noises as he sucked and chewed on his Haribo jellies, tapping his foot in time with the music playing through his AirPods, and beaming at him over the cubicle every time their feet bumped into each other’s.

 

In the end, Seongwoo texted Daniel ‘I’m gonna head out’ and started packing his things. Daniel also slid out of his seat to go ask the disinterested girl from earlier to watch his stuff this time – the girl only gave him a nod without even looking at him.

 

When Seongwoo whispered to him, ‘You should stay and finish your paper,’ Daniel gave him a reassuring smile and replied, ‘It’s late, hyung. I’ll walk you to your dorm.’

 

It was so natural how Daniel took Seongwoo’s textbooks and to-go container into his arms as they walked out of the library.

 

“Long day, huh?” Daniel yawned, twisting his neck and upper body around, “Were you productive today?”

 

“Somewhat,” Seongwoo replied with a sigh, “I think my brain died after orange chicken, though. I got really tired after that, so maybe it’s food coma. I’ll just come back early tomorrow to wrap up.”

 

“Ever so diligent, Seongwoo-hyung,” Daniel smiled, “I only got like…a page done, so I’m going to stay at the library till 3:30AM at least.”

 

“The moment I caught you playing Battle Cats, I knew you weren’t going to get much done today,” Seongwoo snorted, to which Daniel responded with giggles. “But I guess I should be relieved that you weren’t playing Battlegrounds.”

 

“See, that’s why I said I wanted open tables – when I’m using a cubicle, I just get distracted since no one’s watching me,” Daniel sighed, “At least if I could see your face, I would feel guilty about slacking and try harder to do my work.”

 

“No, Daniel, you would’ve just gotten distracted looking at _this_ face,” Seongwoo gestured to his face, “In the end, you would’ve been distracted either way.”

 

“You’re right,” Daniel chuckled, a gentle look in his eyes as he playfully buried his face into Seongwoo’s shoulder. Seongwoo also laughed and rotated his shoulder to get Daniel off him.

 

The rest of the walk back to Seongwoo’s dorm was quiet and peaceful, just the two of them walking side by side with their arms and hands brushing against each other from time to time. Seongwoo was too tired to be wary of his arbitrary boundaries at this point and was idly wondering if guy friends here hugged and kissed their goodbyes too.

 

As they arrived in front of Seongwoo’s dorm, Seongwoo quickly took off his jacket and handed it to Daniel. “Here, Daniel, take my jacket,” he muttered, “Since Jangmi – err, Rose? – took yours earlier. You look cold.”

 

“Thanks, Seongwoo-hyung. You’re the best,” Daniel chirped and wrapped it around himself after exchanging the textbooks and to-go box with the jacket, “I’ll return it to you tomorrow!”

 

“Yeah, I’ll text you to remind you,” Seongwoo paused and quirked his head to the side after he said that; the conversation sounded familiar to his ears.

 

His jacket looked a little small on Daniel, since he was smaller than Daniel in physique and naturally wore smaller clothing – Daniel’s shoulders were too broad to be contained in Seongwoo’s jacket, honestly. Seongwoo snorted a little as he balanced his textbooks and to-go box in one arm, reaching out with the other arm pull the sleeve down. His effort to make the jacket look more fitting on Daniel was futile, to no one’s surprise.

 

There was a little pause as Seongwoo kept his eyes on the sleeve, mindlessly trailing his hand down Daniel’s arm before Daniel snatched his hand and pulled him into a hug.

 

Seongwoo blinked in surprise. It was like wearing Daniel’s jacket, except with added weight and warmth of Daniel’s shoulders and chest pressing against him, and an arm looped around his back. Daniel emitted a little ‘ow’ as he shifted a little away from the textbooks and the to-go box.

 

“I thought you’d be disappointed if I gave Jangmi a hug but not you,” Daniel chuckled against his ear, his voice low and soft.

 

Seongwoo had to suppress a shiver when he felt Daniel’s warm breath against his chilled ear. “To be honest, I _was_ wondering if guys did that too.”

 

“It doesn’t matter what other guys do,” Daniel’s arm tightened around him as a head full of soft brown hair found its place at the crook of Seongwoo’s neck, “We can do whatever we want, hyung.”

 

“Even between normal guy friends? You’re best friends with Jaehwan but I don’t ever see you hugging him. _Or_ kissing him,” Seongwoo laughed, hoping that his voice wasn’t shaking, “And we haven’t known each other for as long as that.”

 

“Well,” Daniel nosed along the line of Seongwoo’s neck, “You’re different.”

 

Before Seongwoo registered what Daniel was saying or doing, he felt something warm and dry press firmly against his left cheek, right over his three moles, before Daniel slowly shifted away from him and flashed him a smile that looked somewhat shy.

 

“Good night, hyung,” he rubbed his nose; even in the dim lighting from the streetlights around the dorm, Seongwoo could see his ears becoming red, “Um, I’ll text you.”

 

It was after Daniel walked away in big strides into the night that Seongwoo felt the prickles of a full out red flush spreading across his face, neck, and even down to his chest. He didn’t dare to touch his cheek, because…was that really what Seongwoo thought it was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a while! I think I've been thinking way too hard about this fic which slowed me down a lot lol. I'm gonna try to update every week just to give myself a deadline.  
> Thanks for reading! <3 I've been keeping up with yall's comments and kudos and I appreciate you guys a lot!


	4. feat. Papa John's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.
> 
> Ong in denial, some cultural differences in dating, and finally some progress!

“So, do you know if he’s gay or not?” Minhyun cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered, eyes flickering left and right to see if there were any people passing by, “Because my Hwang-galryang instinct is telling me that he likes you.”

 

“No, I don’t know,” Seongwoo responded dryly. That was a lie, but he couldn’t just let Minhyun know that Daniel was bi; that was private information, “But he hasn’t mentioned dating guys in the past.” But _this_ , was the unadulterated truth.

 

“Hmm,” Minhyun narrowed his eyes, looking ghostly in the white LED lights of his school library. “If it just ended at hugs, I would’ve told you he’s just a touchy person. But a kiss on the cheek? You know that _I_ ’m a touchy person, but I don’t usually kiss my friends on the cheek. Unless I’m drunk, but I don’t drink anyways.”

 

“I don’t know, things might be different here – I’m in _America_ , remember?” Seongwoo sighed and rubbed his face; he felt a headache coming, “And I told you already, Daniel is just like that; super friendly, super touchy, and super social.”

 

“Well… I guess the most important question to ask would be this,” Minhyun paused, looking a little hesitant, before he continued with a quieter voice, “Do _you_ like him?”

 

Seongwoo blinked; he was not expecting Minhyun to be this forward with him. Usually, his friend was reserved and kept things to himself unless he deemed it absolutely necessary.

 

At Seongwoo’s continued silence, Minhyun sighed, “I know you just wanted to let these off your chest, but in the end, Seongwoo, you have to decide: if you like him, you either go with your emotions or stop yourself from getting attached even more. If you don’t like him, you either let Daniel continue doing what he does or you let him know that you’d like to set clear boundaries.”

 

Minhyun was right. He did have to decide what to do, since no matter what Daniel’s intentions were, Seongwoo felt like he was getting signals from him – especially now that he –

 

“I think I do,” Seongwoo admitted with a small voice; if it weren’t for the microphone attached to his earphones, Minhyun probably wouldn’t have been able to hear him. He swallowed before correcting himself with an affirmative nod, “No, I do like him.”

 

Ever since Daniel had kissed him on the cheek, he couldn’t deny the butterflies he felt in his stomach whenever he saw Daniel’s sunny smiles, whenever Daniel touched him, or when the sound of his own heartbeat drowned out all voices of reason in his head.

 

“But Minhyun,” Seongwoo continued, “It makes me feel better to think that Daniel doesn’t have any feelings for me. I don’t want to assume and make things awkward between us.”

 

He and Daniel still spent almost 24 hours of the day together in some way, but with more touches. Daniel would sometimes hold his hand as he walked Seongwoo back to his dorm (adding that Seongwoo was going to get lost in the darkness and trip on something if he didn’t hold his hand – Seongwoo did trip over nothing before), caressing and kneading the back of his neck when they sat next to each other for lunches (with Jaehwan rambling across from them), demanding to use Seongwoo’s thighs as his pillow when they spent their quick class breaks at a random lawn on campus, and leaning his head against Seongwoo’s shoulder when they watched a movie or some show at Daniel’s apartment – the list was endless, really.

 

An endless list that probably didn’t mean much.

 

Sure, they had gone to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner and drank some wine together there, but Daniel did promise him before that he would take Seongwoo to all the matjibs that he knew, and that fancy Italian restaurant was probably on his list.

 

And they did go watch a midnight premier of one of the Marvel movies recently, just the two of them, but Daniel did mention before that they couldn’t be friends unless Seongwoo watched all the Marvel movies and Jaehwan happened to be hanging out with his mentee that night.

 

Seongwoo had been observing Daniel closely – like he told Minhyun, he didn’t want to assume that Daniel had that kind of interest in him – and it didn’t even take him a whole day to realize, once again, that Daniel was just a very friendly guy. He and Jaehwan were always roughhousing, slapping each other’s arms and butts in laughter, slinging arms around each other’s shoulders, giving each other piggyback rides, and draping themselves all over each other. Not to mention, Daniel had many friends that he would run into on campus and greet them with hugs. He had also seen Daniel patting one female classmate’s head after a poor performance during her practical.

 

Whenever they hung out, he would see many notifications pop up on Daniel’s phone. Daniel never spent a long time on his phone to tend to all those messages when Seongwoo was there, but still – Seongwoo was probably just one of them when Daniel wasn’t with him.

 

Strictly platonic on Daniel’s part, Seongwoo decided. At least that’s what he decided to continue believing.

 

Call it a defense mechanism, but Seongwoo just wanted to be careful, especially after what had happened in Korea. And he didn’t want to lose a friend who had already become such a big part of his life here. It had only been a month and a half since he’s known Daniel, but the loss would still be too devastating.

 

“I know, Seongwoo. Sorry if you think I’m being too pushy with this – but I’m just worried about you,” Minhyun sighed and ruffled his own hair, “Like I said earlier, something tells me that he likes you back in that way too. But since I don’t know Daniel in person, I can’t tell you anything solid and conclusive. All I can tell you is to guard your heart for now unless you’re 100% sure. You’ve just started to pick yourself up again after all that happened in Korea, and I don’t want anything to hurt you. I hope you understand.”

 

“Of course I understand,” Seongwoo smiled warmly; he really appreciated Minhyun’s way of comforting him, he really did. “Thanks for listening to me, Minhyun.”

 

They chatted a little about school and social life in general, before their video call had reached the 2-hour mark and Minhyun declared he had to return to his assignment. Minhyun’s schedule was packed with studying, projects, and assignments – college life seemed very intense at Seoul University – so Seongwoo was grateful that he set aside this time to talk to him.

 

Seongwoo quickly went through his notifications to check if he had missed anything during his video call – he had turned off all notifications so that he can concentrate on updating Minhyun with his life. Besides several missed video calls from Daniel, his KakaoTalk also had been bombarded with Daniel’s messages, which he was not surprised about. He had received some messages from Jaehwan as well.

 

**Daniel Kang**

Hyung, what are you doing? 

Why aren’t you picking up my callssssss

(emoticon)   10:05PM

I’m about to head home so I wanted to talk  
to you 

I can’t believe I won’t see you this whole  
weekend   10:06PM 

(emoticon)

(emoticon)

(emoticon)

I’ll miss you T.T   10:07PM

Text or call me back if you’re not busy!

It’s gonna be a long drive home…

And Nielie is going to be so bored…

And so lonely…   10:08PM

Or I’ll call again when I arrive home!

Don’t ignore me this time okay :(   10:16PM

 

Seongwoo groaned – maybe he shouldn’t have checked his messages right now, when his thoughts were so tangled up in his head. At least Daniel was driving, so he couldn’t (or shouldn’t be) check if Seongwoo had checked his messages or not. He decided to answer Daniel later and moved on to his chatroom with Jaehwan.

 

**Jaehwan Jay Kim**

Hey Seongwoo-hyung

Since Niel isn’t here for the weekend, do you  
wanna come over and accompany me in my lonely  
apartment tomorrow?   08:47PM 

Actually I just need your voice to record my  
guide track lol 

I’ll repay with Papa John’s

(emoticon)   08:48PM

 

Okay, this he can answer with ease. A sigh of relief was right at his throat as he quickly typed out an answer for Jaehwan, saying that he will go over tomorrow. He had promised Daniel that he would go and entertain Peter and Rooney over the weekend, so…he was supposed to be there anyways, whether Jaehwan was aware of it or not.

 

After some consideration, he texted Daniel to say that he was talking with Minhyun, and that he was going to bed. After sending a Ryan emoticon waving goodnight, Seongwoo threw himself onto the bed and buried his face into the pillow.

 

He hated confrontation and had no idea what to do.

 

* * *

 

“What’s up, Seongwoo-hyung my man. Please, come in,” Jaehwan greeted him with a fist bump as he gestured for Seongwoo to come in, dressed only in his usual loungewear: a gray hoodie and black shorts. His hair was mussed up, which was no surprise – it was already 1PM but Jaehwan probably slept in till noon.

 

“Peter! Rooney!” Seongwoo cooed as the two cats darted forward and rubbed their bodies against his legs, “Has Jaehwanie-oppa fed you guys? Probably not, he’s such a terrible caretaker, isn’t he?”

 

“Excuse me, that was the first thing I did when I got out of bed, okay! And just for your information, Peter and Rooney love me,” Jaehwan screeched from the kitchen while spreading some Nutella on his close-to-burnt toast, “I ordered pizza by the way, in case you start demanding food from me. Do you want some Nutella toast though?”

 

“Good, I’m starving, and I’ll pass on the Nutella toast” Seongwoo plopped down onto the couch, getting comfortable in his usual spot. He had his own comforter in the living room now too, a piece of black fabric with white seals printed all over it. Daniel said the white seal resembled him and bought it for him as a congrats-on-finishing-second-round-of-midterms present from Target.

 

“Look at you, looking all comfortable like this is your own house. You’re here so often, I should start collecting rent from you,” Jaehwan grumbled as he took a seat next to Seongwoo and bit into his toast.

 

Seongwoo cleared his throat and buried himself into the comforter, curled up on his side. His ears were burning with slight embarrassment. “…Yeah, maybe you should.” His dorm wasn’t a good place for them to hang out so he always ended up coming over which was like…3-4 times a week.

 

“Come on, hyung, I’m just joking,” Jaehwan cackled, pieces of chewed up bread flying out of his mouth. Seongwoo grimaced at that but decided to not comment on it. Jaehwan only muttered _oops_ and continued munching. “You’re probably going to come over more often sooner or later, I might as well get used to it now.”

 

“Uh, no, you just pretty much told me to stop coming,” Seongwoo replied sarcastically, “That’s fine. I’m starting to forget my roommate’s face anyways, I should start hanging out with him. Not that we’ve ever hung out.”

 

“Ugh, so dramatic, hyung – you’re fine! Not like I own this place anyways. My parents do,” Jaehwan slapped him on the butt, even though it didn’t hurt at all with the comforter covering him, “What I’m saying is – don’t ever feel uncomfortable about coming here just because I’m around. I can always just go to my room, my parents paid a lot of money to get my room sound-proof and it’s pretty legit; I’ve never heard a noise from upstairs, downstairs, Niel’s room – well, except when he’s losing in Battlegrounds – the kitchen, the living room – you name it!”

 

“What – Jaehwan, why would I feel uncomfortable about you being there? It’s _your_ house,” Seongwoo laughed as he kicked Jaehwan in the side. The younger one _oof-_ ed and desperately clung onto the remaining piece of his Nutella toast.

 

“Well, I don’t know – just in case you and Niel – you know,” Jaehwan muttered, looking somewhat sheepish as he scratched the back of his head, “In case you two reach that point soon.” Then he shoved the rest of the toast into his mouth.

 

_Crunch._

 

With that last bite, the two fell into a brief, awkward silence where both were blankly staring at each other while Seongwoo thought to himself, ‘Did he really just…?’ Then the doorbell rang and Jaehwan bolted from the couch, saying in one breath, ‘Thatmustbethepizzamangottagogetmymoney!’

 

Seongwoo was still frozen in his spot when Jaehwan returned with the pizza, who again left Seongwoo by himself to ‘gottagrabsomeplatesandnapkinsberightback.’ When Jaehwan returned, he carefully placed a porcelain plate in his lap and opened the pizza box – it was The Meats pizza, because Jaehwan said Seongwoo needed the ‘full American experience,’ whatever that meant – but neither of them made a move towards it.

 

Jaehwan stole a few nervous glances at his face before he nudged him gently in the side with his elbow. “Didn’t you say that you were starving…?”

 

Seongwoo sighed and set the plate aside. His appetite, thanks to someone, was gone. “Jaehwan, care to clarify what you meant by your statement earlier?”

 

Jaehwan froze in mid-action – he was slowly reaching for a slice when Seongwoo had just said that – and retrieved his hand immediately. “Uhh, you mean when I asked if you weren’t starving…?”

 

“No, before that,” Seongwoo replied curtly.

 

“Uhh, when I had to grab some plates and napkins for both of us…?” Jaehwan shut his mouth with a click when Seongwoo gave him a firm look, with one of his eyebrows raised. He sighed in defeat and reached over to close the pizza box. He could always revive them with his toaster oven after this conversation. “Okay, first, I want to let you know that I’m really sorry and I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation when we watched ‘Midnight in Paris’ together.”

 

Seongwoo’s eyes widened in shock. That was the night when he had told Daniel about his sexuality and past. “…Did you hear everything…?”

 

“Well, not everything. I was drifting in and out of sleep and I just happened to hear the part when you told Daniel that – you liked guys,” he gulped and readjusted his hoodie, “But I swear upon the god of music, I didn’t hear the part before or after that. I was conscious again maybe when Daniel was giving his little anecdote – but I know all that already.”

 

“Well, you heard the most important part, I guess,” Seongwoo rubbed his face wearily, “It’s okay, Jaehwan. I did mean to tell you eventually, and I know now that you’re not the type of person who would eavesdrop with ill intentions or spread rumors. I…just didn’t know that you knew already.”

 

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t tell anyone; even Daniel doesn’t know that I know,” Jaehwan said solemnly with his eyes casted downwards, perking up again when he realized that Seongwoo didn’t look upset, “But I guess my point from earlier is…I think you and Daniel are totally ready to take your relationship to the next level.”

 

“Are you playing matchmaker now?” Seongwoo asked with disbelief, “Jaehwan, before you do all that, you need to know if both parties are or can be interested in each other…in _that_ way.”

 

“Uh, excuse me, I have eyes, you know,” Jaehwan rolled his eyes, to which Seongwoo gave him a quick jab to the side. “ _Ow_! God, you and Daniel are starting to act like each other, that’s exactly my point!”

 

“Okay, fine. Let’s just say that I _do_ have the potential to be interested in Daniel that way, since I’m gay and Daniel is an attractive guy,” Seongwoo huffed while crossing his arms. “But that doesn’t mean that Daniel is though! Didn’t you say that he’s never had boyfriends before?”

 

“Well, he’s _bi,_ and just because he’s never had boyfriends that doesn’t mean he’s never had crushes,” Jaehwan muttered, before stealing a glance at Seongwoo’s face and quickly adding, “But! Very, _very_ fleeting crushes, of course. There hasn’t been anyone like you, Seongwoo-hyung.”

 

“Whatever, Jaehwan,” Seongwoo rolled his eyes, his face burning for some reason. “Daniel’s past love life doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’m just a hyung who’s very close to him.”

 

“That’s not what your face says – _ow_! You and Daniel seriously need to stop that before y’all break all my ribs,” Jaehwan whined while rubbing at his injured side, “I’m serious though, hyung, he doesn’t ever act like _that_ to any of his friends. Do you know how soft he is towards you? He acts like you’re this fragile object that’s going to break if he puts too much pressure, and you know how he throws me around and verbally abuses me all the time like I’m his fucking punching bag.”

 

“Well, that might be because he doesn’t feel as close to me as he does to you, so he’s more careful with me. And I’m older,” Seongwoo bit his lips, fiddling with his thumb.

 

“Trust me, hyung – don’t delude yourself. I’ve never seen Niel make heart eyes towards _anyone_ like _that_ ,” Jaehwan said firmly with a squeeze of Seongwoo’s knee, before he reached over for the pizza box again, “Okay, I’ll leave it at that; you can decide what to do from now on, you’re an adult. And I’m hungry from your interrogation and becoming borderline hangry. Let’s eat first.”

 

Seongwoo wanted to continue protesting but decided to shut his mouth instead. If a third person like Jaehwan felt that way, it seemed appropriate to bring their relationship up to Daniel. As the hyung, he should be the one to bring it up…right? He didn’t have to confess or anything, just clarify if they were friends and friends only. Seongwoo sighed to himself as Jaehwan took the box to the kitchen to reheat some of the slices in his toaster oven.

 

As Seongwoo straightened himself up from his position, Peter and Rooney, who were lurking around the living room throughout their heated debate, hopped onto the couch. The orange tabby settled in his lap while the calico curved around Seongwoo’s side. Seongwoo was idly petting both cats, feeling them purr under his hands, when Jaehwan came around with some reheated pizza.

 

“Wow, they really like you,” Jaehwan laughed as he placed their plates on the coffee table and pulled out his phone, “Stay like that, I need to take a picture of this and send it to Niel.”

 

“They’re really sweet,” Seongwoo said as he scratched Rooney between her ears, trying to not look conscious of Jaehwan taking a picture of him, “I remember they didn’t come out of Daniel’s room when I first visited.”

 

“It takes them a while to warm up to people,” Jaehwan replied, his thumbs busily moving on his phone; probably messaging Daniel, “Even for Jisungie-hyung – Daniel’s cousin, by the way – it took _months_ for Peter and Rooney to start acknowledging his presence. I’m telling you, hyung –  you’re special.”

 

Seongwoo was about to protest the last part when Jaehwan’s phone suddenly exploded with KakaoTalk messages ( _KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk!)_ and Jaehwan yelped when it fell to the floor with a dull clunk, exclaiming, “Daniel, this little shit!”

 

Jaehwan held a hand over his chest as he picked up his phone carefully (the phone still obnoxiously chirping _KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk! KaTalk!)_ and released a sigh of relief after he turned it over, “Thank god, it’s not cracked.”

 

 “There isn’t anything wrong with Daniel though, right?” Seongwoo asked worriedly. He did see a post of Daniel on Instagram this morning and the younger boy was at the beach surfing.

 

“Define ‘wrong,’ because I think I just broke him with that picture,” Jaehwan shook his head solemnly and showed him his chatroom with Daniel. Seongwoo hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should be looking at it, but his curiosity got the best of him and he leaned over.

 

**KangDa**

OMFG

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ALEKHFQUHKAGKJHAKEJHGAJKLAWEGKJ

(emoticon)

(emoticon)

(emoticon)

(emoticon)   2:13PM

WHY DID I GO HOME

WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP ME JAEHWAN 

WHY IS HYUNG SO FUCKING CUTE

AWEKFJLQKJLKAGHUHWLKAGA

FML   2:14PM

 

            2:14PM   Bro, chill.

 

The chatroom was moving down rapidly with the amount of emoticons Daniel was sending to Jaehwan, which were mostly characters freaking out and spazzing. Feeling his ears burn in embarrassment, Seongwoo pushed the phone back towards Jaehwan, who had a big, mischievous grin on his face that clearly said, ‘What did I tell you?’

 

“Enough of this. Let’s hurry up and eat our damn pizza so you can get your recording done and I can go home,” Seongwoo grumbled.

 

And it was after Jaehwan’s phone had fallen silent for a while and after they had finished eating their pizza that Seongwoo received a new KakaoTalk message on his phone:

 

**Daniel Kang**

Are you having fun with Peter and Rooney? >.<   2:37PM

 

Jaehwan, who leaned over to check, only scoffed, “Look at him trying so hard to act cool and impress you. Disgusting.”

 

* * *

 

After spending most of Saturday with Jaehwan, Seongwoo was coerced into a video call with Daniel after returning to his dorm at midnight. The boy gushed about how the weather and the beach was so nice even though the water was cold, and how he took his mom out on a dinner date to this famous barbecue place in his hometown. (“Next time, you’re going to come down to San Diego with me!” Daniel declared.)

 

Seongwoo managed to act and talk normally despite all the thoughts running through his head, telling Daniel about how Jaehwan made him record almost 10 times and how he was never going to record anything for Jaehwan. Daniel giggled and said Jaehwan can be demanding when it came to music. That didn’t stop Seongwoo from grumbling for five more minutes.

 

Sunday wasn’t exciting. He was trying to work on his homework and some things to review for his remaining midterms…key word being ‘trying,’ because his mind was busy thinking up ways to go about his ‘talk’ with Daniel.

 

Daniel was fortunately quiet on his side of the chatroom, his last message being, ‘I’ll be back late today, hyung. See you tomorrow!’

 

Seongwoo got ready for bed – his roommate was gone once again, Seongwoo had no idea what his roommate was up to most of the times but it wasn’t like he cared anyways – and was tossing and turning for an hour when his phone lightened up and started ringing.

 

Seongwoo squinted real hard at the phone – his eyes almost stinging from the sudden brightness – before realizing who the caller was: Kang Daniel.

 

He contemplated for a moment whether or not he should pick up the call. After all, it was almost 2AM in the morning and Daniel knew that he was usually asleep by now. But Seongwoo couldn’t help but to swipe right and answer, his volume lowered to a whisper even though his roommate wasn’t even here. “Daniel?”

 

“Sorry for calling so late, hyung. Were you sleeping?” Daniel asked, his voice quiet as well.

 

“Uh,” Seongwoo sat up a bit to turn on his bedside lamp, “I was in bed, but no, I wasn’t sleeping yet. What’s up?”

 

“If you can, can you come down for a bit? I’m in front of your dorm,” then a little pause, “I want to see you.”

 

“Yeah, um,” Seongwoo’s hesitation was brief, “I’ll be down in a minute.”

 

When Sungwoo rushed down, his signature black hoodie thrown over his pajamas, Daniel was standing beside his car beaming at him, his smile not even fading a bit as Seongwoo slowly made his way towards him. He was dressed comfortably in an orange hoodie and a pair of Adidas track pants. His face also looked a little more tanned than usual, probably from surfing over the weekend.

 

“Seongwoo-hyung,” he breathed as he pulled Seongwoo into a tight hug, “Ah, I missed this.”

 

Seongwoo blinked, not really sure how to respond to this, before he gave awkward pats on Daniel’s back, chuckling, “Geez, you’ve only been gone for the weekend. How was the drive back?”

 

“Not too bad, I left late because I didn’t want to get stuck in traffic,” Daniel murmured into his hair, breathing deeply, “Anything interesting that happened today?”

 

“Just some schoolwork and…wait, did you dye your hair?!” Seongwoo pulled back and fingered Daniel’s now-very-much-blonde hair. They felt a little rough under his fingers.

 

“Bleaching would be the correct term, but yes,” Daniel laughed and ruffled his own hair shyly, “I was getting bored with the brown. Does it look okay?”

 

“Looks great,” Seongwoo answered without hesitation, his ears heating when he realized that he just blurted his answer out, “I mean, it’s refreshing. Are you going to dye your hair pink again?”

 

Jaehwan had told him about how Daniel’s hair was pink just last year when they entered as freshmen, and how his nickname for an entire year was ‘that pink-haired guy.’ Combined with his bunny teeth smile and peach-scented hair and body products, he was also called amongst his friend group ‘human Apeach.’

 

“Do you want me to?” Daniel grinned, and made a gesture of flipping his hair backwards like a diva, “I mean, I think I already look fabulous enough in blonde, but if you want me to go for pink again – I remember the way you scoffed when Jaehwan told you about my nickname, hyung! I _will_ show you human Apeach in flesh.”

 

“I wasn’t making fun of you, I just wasn’t expecting that kind of nickname!” Seongwoo protested, “Apeach isn’t what I think of when I see all _this_!” Seongwoo slapped Daniel on the chest and gestured wildly at Daniel’s body, from the neck down.

 

Daniel squeaked and crossed his arms across his upper body in an X-shape, looking scandalized, “ _Hyung_!”

 

“What, it’s not like your clothes can hide all that anyways,” Seongwoo coughed sheepishly and took half a step backwards. Obviously, he wasn’t going to have ‘the talk’ with Daniel in this atmosphere. He probably had to find another time and place to bring it up. To change the topic, he gestured towards Daniel’s car since the backseat was filled with a lot of luggage, “Looks like you brought back a lot of stuff.”

 

“Oh yeah, I brought some stuff back with me for you,” Daniel exclaimed then, hopping over to his car to lift a giant red reusable Target bag out of the backseat, “Some snacks and instant foods from H-Mart – even though you really need to lay off on the ramyun, but just in case I’m busy and you don’t feel like eating out – and my mom also packed you some side-dishes to eat with instant rice.”

 

“Oh, wow, that’s a lot of stuff,” Seongwoo was honestly really touched, almost murmuring his words as he rummaged through the bag dazedly. There were Korean snacks that he mentioned in passing, including his favorite Binch biscuits. Daniel’s mom even packed some Korean-style flat meatballs and fried dumplings for him. “You really didn’t have to, Daniel.”

 

“I wanted to,” Daniel laughed, his voice sounding shier than usual, “I don’t mind doing these things for you, hyung.”

 

Okay, taking back what he thought earlier: now was the perfect time to bring up the topic. Seongwoo lifted his head slowly from the bag and met Daniel’s eyes, which reflected warmth and affection back towards him, like those of a puppy’s. He spent an entire day mulling over this – he could do this. He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back to encourage himself.

 

“Daniel,” Seongwoo started, still hesitating if he should go on or not – before he sighed and clenched his fist. He had to do this. “What are we?”

 

Daniel tilted his head to the side, eyes wide, “Huh?”

 

You’re not confessing to him, Seongwoo, just clarifying. Go on. “We’ve been video-calling and texting every day, going out to fancy restaurants, holding hands, and you go out of your way to eat lunch with me almost every day even though you don’t have class until later in the afternoon… Friends don’t go to this extent, at least _I_ don’t. And…well, you know that I like guys, and you’re honestly a great guy to have around – I don’t want to assume that we’re more than friends when you don’t intend anything by your actions, so –”

 

“Hold up,” Daniel cut him off in the middle of his ramble with a confused frown on his face, which Seongwoo was kind of grateful for because he wasn’t really sure what was coming out of his mouth, but at the same time he was a little terrified of what was going to come out of Daniel’s mouth, “Friends?”

 

Seongwoo nodded slowly, not sure why Daniel looked so confused, “Yeah, friends.”

 

“Hyung,” Daniel hastily – and almost throwing it – set aside the grocery bag to grab Seongwoo’s hands. His gaze was intense as he squeezed them earnestly, “Did you really think that I was treating you like a friend this whole time? This _whole_ time?”

 

“Yeah…?” Seongwoo licked his lips nervously, unable to break the eye contact.

 

“Oh my god,” Daniel sighed and pulled Seongwoo closer to him by his hands, back to their earlier distance. “Hyung, I was taking you out on _dates_. I was courting you. …Ah, this is kind of embarrassing.”

 

Daniel was the one who broke their eye contact to bury his face into Seongwoo’s shoulder. In midst of his mussed up blonde hair, Seongwoo could see his red ears poking out from underneath.

 

“Wait, so are we boyfriends then?” Seongwoo asked, a little shocked by Daniel’s little burst of confession. He didn’t know they skipped the whole confession part and became boyfriends already without Seongwoo confessing his feelings or consenting in words. But at least he now knew that that whole list of things Daniel did to him wasn’t just nothing. It was a relief to know that Daniel had mutual interest in him.

 

Daniel flinched a little, his grip on Seongwoo’s hands tightening too, but didn’t lift his face. Seongwoo could see the back of his neck flaming too. “Not yet – I was going to ask later, after your midterms and projects were over.”

 

“But didn’t you say that we were going on dates?” Seongwoo scrunched up his nose, “I’m so confused. Is this an American thing?”

 

“Well, _I_ thought we were dating – going on dates, getting to know each other, all that good stuff,” Daniel mumbled as he lifted his face, still sporting a dark shade of pink and his hands still grabbing onto Seongwoo’s, “All the stuff that comes before we decide that we want to be boyfriends.”

 

“Why can’t we just become boyfriends now? We know each other well already,” Seongwoo asked back, not to challenge Daniel but just genuinely curious, “Do you not like me yet?”

 

“No, hyung – well, I wasn’t sure if you wanted us to be exclusive yet,” Daniel explained, watching Seongwoo’s face carefully as if he didn’t want to say anything that would confuse Seongwoo even more. Except Seongwoo did get more confused.

 

“But doesn’t dating mean that we are exclusive? I don’t get it,” Seongwoo frowned. In Korea, if a couple knew that they liked each other then they just confessed and became lovers. He didn’t know dating culture was so complicated here. “Wait, so if we weren’t exclusive, does that mean that you’ve been dating other people too?”

 

“NO! No, no no, I haven’t been doing that, and I think – I think this is a discussion that we should save for another time,” Daniel concluded hastily, but spoke the next words in a calmer tone, weight in his words evident, “But to make it clear, hyung, I like you and I want us to be exclusive. But my question to you is, do _you_ like me in the same way?”

 

“Huh,” Seongwoo blinked at the straightforward question, taken aback – he was surprised that Daniel admitted his feelings so easily in front of him, even though Seongwoo himself was determined to avoid saying it before and throughout this conversation. But he knew Daniel deserved his honesty, after he laid everything bare before Seongwoo – so Seongwoo was glad that he had practice in saying the next words to Minhyun and Jaehwan. “Yeah, I do. I like you, Daniel.”

 

The way Daniel beamed at him, a sunny smile slowly emerging on his face as he said those words was something that Seongwoo realized that he could never forget.

 

How could he when Daniel’s smile was even sunnier than the Californian sun?

 

He couldn’t help but to close the little distance between them to kiss Daniel fully on the lips, just a soft peck. He lingered long enough to feel Daniel’s lips stretch into another smile and was about to pull back when Daniel’s hand was suddenly on his nape and his lips were back.

 

Daniel’s lips were so plush against his, easily entrapping Seongwoo’s thin lips between his as Daniel took turns sucking and licking his upper and lower lips. Seongwoo squirmed when he felt hot puffs of air from Daniel’s nose, which was squished against his cheek as they kissed, but Daniel laced their fingers together and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

 

The moment Seongwoo felt Daniel’s tongue slipping past his lips and into his mouth was when he not only jumped at the sudden contact but also heard a loud cough behind him. Daniel yelped into his mouth and Seongwoo hurriedly parted, realizing that he had accidentally bitten Daniel’s tongue.

 

“Daniel! I’m so sorry!” Seongwoo apologized as he tried to look at the damage, except Daniel had a hand over his mouth, “Are you bleeding?”

 

“No, I’m okay. I don’t think I’m bleeding,” Daniel smiled weakly and lowered his hand. Seongwoo felt his face heating up when he saw how wet and red Daniel’s lips looked.

 

“Excuse me,” there was another cough behind them and the two jumped and turned around. Seongwoo felt his blush intensify when he recognized the girl: the bored-looking girl who always had the night shift at the reception desk at the dorm lobby. She looked just as disinterested as ever, her face expressionless like she was done with life. “Sorry to interrupt but you need to re-park your car or something because you’ve been parked here for more than 10 minutes and this is a red zone.”

 

“Oh, um,” Seongwoo looked at Daniel, who looked somewhat dazed, “Daniel?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Daniel blinked hard, snapping out of his stupor, before smiling apologetically at the girl, “Sorry about that, I’m going to leave soon.”

 

The girl gave them a raised eyebrow as she turned around and headed back towards the dorm. The two were enveloped in an awkward silence, stealing gazes at each other’s faces when Daniel leaned in and quickly pecked him on his nose, cheek, and then lips, before coming back for the lips one last time.

 

“Don’t forget to take the goods,” Daniel grinned before cupping a hand next to his mouth, “That girl is glaring daggers at me, I can feel it on the side of my head so I’ll take my leave now. Good night, hyung. I’ll text you. Maybe call you. Actually, probably video-call you. Wait, no – you have a 9AM class tomorrow.”

 

At his dejected look, Seongwoo chuckled, “There’s always tomorrow for video calls, Daniel. We’re boyfriends now, right?”

 

Daniel gave him a shy smile, his cheeks becoming pink again. “Right. Texting it is, then.”

 

Daniel gave him an air kiss with the windows rolled down as he drove away, with Seongwoo waving after the car. The girl gave him a pointed look as she took his ID to swipe him in and Seongwoo could only give her a sheepish smile in return.

 

When he returned to his room, his roommate had come back, sleeping soundly on his side of the room. Seongwoo carefully placed the giant bag of food next to his bed after placing the side-dishes in their shared tiny fridge – making a mental note to himself to organize other foods tomorrow. As he discarded his hoodie and slid into his bed again, his phone came to life with messages that were obviously from Daniel.

 

**Daniel Kang**

(Photo)

(Photo)

I’m back! And I changed your name on  
my phone♥ Hope you like it 

Good night!   3:03AM

 

Seongwoo lied down on his side with his phone facing away from his roommate, towards the wall. It wasn’t like he was doing anything improper, but…just in case. He quickly downloaded Daniel’s selca and almost kicked the wall when he saw the screen capture of Daniel’s contact page for him.

 

♥Jagi♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow...so it has been three weeks since the last update OTL I'm so sorry guys...I won't make promises again  
> Thanks for reading once again! Please let me know if you have any questions. Next chapter will have some mature content... >.>


	5. feat. Hite Extra Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.  
> International student problems, yay more Wanna One members, Jangmi returns, underage drinking/partying, smoking is bad for you, awkward smut at the end

Jaehwan gave them a standing ovation from his seat as they walked into Denny’s together, his face staying solemn and not ceasing his claps even as other customers gave them curious looks. Daniel covered his mouth and giggled under his hand, punching Jaehwan in the shoulder before gesturing Seongwoo to take a seat first. As soon as Seongwoo took the seat across from Jaehwan and got himself comfortable, Daniel jumped into the seat next to him and took Seongwoo’s hand into his immediately.

 

“Ugh I love you, my bros, but please go easy on the PDA,” Jaehwan said with his nose scrunched up. “I’m so glad that you won’t be sitting next to me from now on Niel, you won’t be able to hit – _ow_!” Jaehwan reached down, face twisted in pain. “How dare you kick me!”

 

“I’ll always find ways to hit you, don’t worry,” Daniel smirked as he opened the menu. “Dinner’s on Jaehwan!”

 

“What, you motherfu – I didn’t agree to this!” Jaehwan spluttered into his iced lemon water, “Since when did I owe you two a meal? I already bought Seongwoo-hyung pizza on Saturday!”

 

“Hey! I thought that was for helping you record your guide track!” Seongwoo retorted.

 

“Yeah Jaehwan, _that_ was for helping you record your guide track, _this_ is for us becoming boyfriends officially,” Daniel stuck his tongue out. Seongwoo was so glad that they were seated at a booth.

 

Jaehwan pointed a fork at Seongwoo, narrowing his eyes, “And _you_ thought Daniel didn’t have interest in you! I told you, hyung, I told you so! You should be the one to buy me food! After I house you and keep you fed and full under my roof is this how you repay me?!”

 

Seongwoo was officially done with his second round of midterms, Jaehwan had just turned in his assignment, and Daniel didn’t have anything coming up immediately, so the three of them gathered at Denny’s to give Seongwoo another ‘American experience’ and celebrate(?) the beginning of their relationship together as a couple, since Jaehwan claimed that he had a major role in it. (Minhyun sent his words of blessing over KakaoTalk and his words were relayed to the younger ones.)

 

Despite his spiteful words, Jaehwan looked genuinely happy for them, even though he grudgingly told Seongwoo that Daniel would spam their chatroom and randomly barge into his room to keep him up all night talking and gushing about Seongwoo. Daniel sputtered in indignation at the beginning of Jaehwan’s angry rant but by the end his face was buried in his hand, his ears flaming red.

 

Daniel played with his hand throughout the meal, rubbing his thumb over the back of Seongwoo’s hand, lacing their fingers together, tickling Seongwoo’s palm, and squeezing their hands together – he only let go to dig into their shared appetizer, since - in Daniel’s words - he was a ‘super duper’ serious person when it came to food. Seongwoo felt a little self-conscious since Jaehwan was sitting right across from them, but Jaehwan seemed to not mind so he continued to enjoy holding hands with Daniel.

 

He remembered when he went to Jongno for the first time and snuck around in those dark alleys with a mask covering his half of his face. Compared to then, he felt so…liberated. He never imagined he would one day hold hands with his boyfriend in public with a mutual friend who knew of their relationship.

 

“Oh yeah, Niel. Don’t forget about the mixer on Friday,” Jaehwan ooh-ed as his Ultimate Omelette was placed in front of him by the waitress, “The ‘higher-ups’ told me to remind you. They said you weren’t responding to their KaTalk messages.”

 

“Ugh, right,” Daniel groaned; not even the T-bone steak plate placed in front of him seemed to cheer him up, “Man, I really don’t want to go.”

 

“Mixer?” Seongwoo perked up, looking expectantly at Jaehwan while taking the Cali Club Sandwich plate from the waitress with a small ‘Thank you.’

 

“Hyung, not you too! Are you not part of the Facebook group? KakaoTalk group chat?” Jaehwan sighed exasperation with a little dramatic flair when Seongwoo only shrugged, “It’s like…a hangout slash socializing event that we hold every year for all the mentees. It’s _the_ big welcome party, even though I guess we do hold a welcome party within the first month of school…? Anyways, the second big welcome party then. Since Daniel and I both signed up for the mentor-mentee program, we have to be there whether or not our mentees are present. You should come though, hyung! It’s a great opportunity to mingle with other Korean students on campus and our friend group is pretty awesome. I can introduce you to my mentee Woojin.”

 

“Sounds fun,” Seongwoo _was_ thinking to himself recently that he was ready to expand his social circle, since the only people he hung out with were Jaehwan and Daniel, “I guess I’ll go. I haven’t planned anything for Friday anyways.”

 

“You mean, _we_ haven’t planned anything for Friday,” Daniel quipped with a pout on his face.

 

Seongwoo flicked him on the nose, “Fine, _we_. Quit with the pouting.”

 

“Uh, I’m here too, you know,” Jaehwan grumbled as he took another vicious bite into his omelet. Daniel began cutting and munching on his T-bone steak happily. “By the way, are you planning on telling other guys about Seongwoo-hyung? Now that you’re official and all. And they all know about you being bi.”

 

“Um,” Daniel paused in mid-bite and quickly glanced at Seongwoo before scratching his eyelid, “Eventually, when Seongwoo-hyung is okay with it. We’re going to keep it on the down low for now.”

 

“And I’m guessing this is when I should feel _so_ privileged for being let inside the circle of secret,” Jaehwan shook his head and raised his glass of water, “Here’s to OngNiel~ NielOng? Whatever!”

 

Daniel and Seongwoo both chuckled as they obliged Jaehwan with his ‘toast.’ Seongwoo felt Daniel’s hand squeezing his hand gently and squeezed back, flashing Daniel a quick smile as he did so.

 

Daniel looked longingly at him like a puppy wanting a treat before he leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Let’s hang out without Jaehwan from now on. So that we can kiss whenever we want.”

 

“Daniel! Not in public!” Seongwoo did a double take and exclaimed, his eyes widened and ears flaming as he smacked Daniel on the shoulder. Daniel just giggled in response, his bunny teeth out and eyes crinkling.

 

“I’m putting a reminder on my phone to never, ever hang out with you two from now on, so please don’t bother inviting me,” Jaehwan shook his head and made a disgusted face while typing away on his phone, “Couples. I hate them.”

 

* * *

 

When Jaehwan said it was a mixer, Seongwoo wasn’t quite sure what that entailed – he had never heard of such a term in Korea, and he didn’t bother asking Jaehwan or Daniel for a specific definition.

 

It was essentially taking Korean drinking parties to someone’s house. This was new; while Seongwoo didn’t attend college in Korea, he had to pick up Minhyun from various restaurants, bars, and noraebangs around Seoul University on several occasions when his friend was passed out drunk at the medicine major hangouts. House parties were usually impossible in Korea anyways because either students commuted from home or lived in a tiny apartment close to campus.

 

The mixer wasn’t held at a mansion or a big house like he had seen in American movies, but in a two-story townhouse that seemed big enough to house considerable amount of people.

 

“Uh, I hope Eunhye-nuna and Esther-nuna don’t get in trouble for hosting the mixer here,” Jaehwan commented as they walked up to the front door.

 

“Esther-nuna said this townhouse complex is full of rich college kids who like to party every single day, so we should be okay unless the surrounding neighbors decide to report the whole complex,” Daniel replied and turned to Seongwoo. “Shall we?”

 

Seongwoo’s eyes widened when he saw rows of Hite Extra Cold lined up on the kitchen counter, along with the familiar green bottles of Chamisul Fresh. There were a lot of Korean snacks in open cardboard boxes as well. Through the speakers that were set up around the kitchen and the living room, some Korean hip-hop song was playing. He knew he lived in a part of America where there were many Koreans, but he was not expecting to see such a ‘Korean’ sight in a different country.

 

“Daniel! Jaehwan! Haven’t seen you two in forever!” A relatively short guy came up to them with a red cup in his hand, slapping both Daniel and Jaehwan on their backs harshly before turning to Seongwoo with a curious look and a sweet smile, “Are you new?”

 

“Uh, Sungwoonie-hyung, this is Seongwoo-hyung, my mentee,” Daniel interjected, gesturing back and forth between the two, “Seongwoo-hyung, this is Sungwoonie-hyung. Sungwoonie-hyung is a junior now. Oh shit, aren’t you also computer science major?”

 

“Whoa, a fellow computer science major? Welcome to hell,” Sungwoon cackled, “What year are you? Well, Daniel called you hyung, so – sophomore? You can’t be in the same year as me, with that face of yours, I definitely would’ve noticed you.”

 

Seongwoo laughed, “I’m actually a freshman. I took a year off in Korea to prepare to come here.”

 

“Only one year? You must be hella smart,” Sungwoon exclaimed, his eyes wide as he took a sip from his cup, “International student then?”

 

“Apparently this hyung almost went to Seoul University,” Jaehwan coughed from the side, “Scored high on TOEFL and SAT on his first tries. After 6 months at a hakwon.”

 

“Damn. If you can make it to Seoul University, you can probably make it anywhere in the world – welcome to LA!” Sungwoon gave him a hearty pat on his shoulder, “Wait, why are you Daniel’s mentee? If you’re computer science, you should’ve been assigned to me!”

 

“Hyung!” Daniel pouted, “You already have Jihoon, don’t be greedy!”

 

“Well, I’m just saying, it would’ve made more sense for _you_ to get Jihoon and for me to get Seongwoo,” Sungwoon rolled his eyes while Daniel looked somewhat sulky, “Speaking of Jihoon, where are the two rascals? Jihoon said he was gonna come with Woojin – has Woojin texted you yet, Jaehwan?”

 

Jaehwan grinned, looking up from his phone and gesturing towards the entrance, “Speaking of the little devils, they’re here now. Yo, Park Woojin! Park Jihoon! Get over here!”

 

The two boys that were standing at the entrance looking around perked up and walked over to them, dressed in matching college gears. Seongwoo thought unlike himself, they actually had that ‘freshmen glow’ (in the words of Jaehwan) on their faces, with baby cheeks and energetic, twinkling eyes.

 

“A new face!” the pretty-looking boy exclaimed, pointing at Seongwoo.

 

The boy next to him with a snaggletooth slapped his friend’s pointing finger away, “Jihoon! That’s rude. Don’t point at strangers.”

 

“Seongwoo-hyung, this is Park Woojin, my precious, devilish troublemaker of a mentee,” Jaehwan pulled the snaggletooth boy to his side and made him bow, even though Woojin protested, “Woojin, this is Seongwoo-hyung, Niel’s mentee. Also an international student like you.”

 

“Oh!” Woojin grinned, his snaggletooth even more apparent when he grinned like that, “A fellow international student! What part of Korea?”

 

“I went to a high school in Seoul but my hometown is in Incheon,” Seongwoo grinned back, “I’m guessing you’re from…Busan?”

 

“How did you know?!” Woojin asked him with wide eyes, as if he really didn’t know.

 

“Oh Woojin my child, I told you already – your dialect is a dead giveaway,” Jaehwan sighed and shook his head.

 

“But I fixed it! My Busan friends tell me that I totally sound like a Seoul kid now,” Woojin muttered, “I even know how to say blueberry smoothie like a Seoul kid!” Sungwoon burst into laughter next to him, surprising everyone with its suddenness and high pitch.

 

“Whatever, Woojin. Whenever you say blueberry smoothie you sound even more like a Busan kid,” Jihoon shook his head also before extending a hand towards Seongwoo, “I’m Park Jihoon, also a freshman. I’m Sungwoonie-hyung’s mentee.”

 

Both Woojin and Jihoon were in business major, but apparently Jihoon was taking an intro to dance class, which was probably why Sungwoon claimed that Jihoon should’ve been assigned to Daniel instead. Daniel still looked a little sulky at that, mumbling under his breath, ‘Seongwoo-hyung is my mentee anyways.’ Seongwoo hid his laughter under his hand and gave several pats on his head.

 

When Jaehwan, Daniel, and Sungwoon brought back some Chamisul and Hite for all of them to share, that’s when one of the organization leaders came up to them and said all the mentors had to gather for a meeting. Daniel sent him the sad eyes, using his fingers to draw tear streaks on his face as the three got herded away into one of the rooms. Seongwoo waved him away, hiding his ridiculous grin behind his red cup. Meanwhile, Woojin shrugged and said, ‘Well, more alcohol for us! I know how to make some mean somaek.’

 

The three of them drank some somaek together, awkwardly standing in a corner – Woojin and Jihoon occasionally greeted some people who were also apparently freshmen, but whispered to Seongwoo that they weren’t really close to anyone outside of their circle, only occasionally joining some freshmen hangouts that seemed fun. At least they seemed to have taken a liking towards Seongwoo, which he was glad about – he was having fun talking with them. He and Woojin also bonded over talking about how difficult TOEFL and SAT were, Jihoon occasionally commenting on how he had difficulties with SAT as well, even though he had lived in America for a while now.

 

“Park Woojin! Park Jihoon!” a girl, whom Seongwoo quickly realized to be Jangmi, came into their circle with a bottle of Chamisul Fresh and two overlapped soju glasses in her hands, “Nuna will pour you some shots. Oh, Seongwoo-oppa, hello.”

 

“Rose-nuna,” Woojin greeted with a bow of his head, taking the soju glass and accepting a shot, “Aren’t you supposed to be at the mentor meeting?”

 

“Nah, I came ‘late,’ it’s okay,” she replied with a wink and moved onto Jihoon, also pouring him a shot, “I also didn’t want to leave my mentee alone. You two have met her, right? Choi Jenny?”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Jihoon took the shot in one gulp, “She’s an international student too, isn’t she?”

 

“That’s right! I should tell her to come over,” Jangmi took the shot glass from Woojin and handed it to Seongwoo, giving him a sweet smile, “Oppa, come closer; I’ll pour you a shot too.”

 

Seongwoo had to admit he didn’t have too good of an impression of Jangmi, but she was Daniel’s friend and seemed nice enough. Seongwoo smiled in response and also took the shot in one big gulp. The soju tasted bitter on his tongue.

 

Jenny was a tall, pretty girl with an intimidating eye makeup – shadows, eyeliners, fake eyelashes and all – but she was surprisingly timid, stealing glances at Seongwoo’s face as she tried to participate in their conversation.

 

At first the five of them talked about school and food, light-hearted stuff – then the conversation shifted towards post-graduation plans.

 

“So, are you planning on staying after graduation?” Jangmi asked as she took a sip of her somaek, “I heard F1 and OPT visas are hella hard to get. I know some unnies who had to leave the country because they couldn’t extend it on time.”

 

“I dunno, I haven’t really thought about it,” Woojin muttered while swirling the somaek in his red cup, “I just want to focus on graduating first. But I wouldn’t mind going back to Korea since my immediate family is there.”

 

“How about you, Seongwoo-oppa?” Jenny asked, eyes genuinely curious. All the heads turned toward him, looking expectantly.

 

Seongwoo chewed on a shrimp chip. He came to Los Angeles to run away, and he knew he eventually had to return to Korea, but actually assigning a time period on it – at most 4-6 years – he realized how little of a time he seemed to have here before he had to face all his abandoned problems back in Korea.

 

“I haven’t really thought about it either,” Seongwoo managed to reply, although his words came out slowly, “I like LA, it’d be nice to stay. I was thinking maybe I can try to get some internship experience during a summer and hopefully they’d like me enough to keep me here with a work visa.”

 

“I don’t know, oppa, you have to be _really_ good to get an internship position that matters,” Jangmi sighed, reaching over for some shrimp chips with her perfectly manicured fingers, “Like, _hella_ good. I heard some companies don’t even bother looking at international students’ resumes.”

 

“That’s true,” Jenny also sighed, fumbling with her cup and her face flushed from alcohol, “My older sister – she goes to a college in New York, majors in business – has been trying to find some internship position in New York. Her GPA is 3.8, she has some solid leadership and volunteer experiences, and yet she keeps getting rejected. She was complaining about how her incompetent acquaintances were getting all the positions she wanted.”

 

“Exactly!” Seongwoo frowned a little when bits of shrimp chips flew out of Jangmi’s mouth and landed next to him. “And with the Korean military service, guys have a harder time. That two-year gap makes those companies question, what the hell has this guy done while other people were getting experiences and putting themselves out there? It’s not fair, but I guess that’s life.”

 

At this point, Woojin was glaring at his red cup with a straight face, his fists clenched loosely next to him, while Jihoon’s eyes were darting between their faces anxiously. Seongwoo wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol, but he was also starting to feel uncomfortable and sour from this conversation.

 

“Don’t you two also have to start thinking about military service too? I heard guys have a harder time there if they go later when they’re older,” Jangmi reached for some chocolate cookies this time, her mouth continuing to run, “It might be better to take that two-year gap right now as a student rather than later, because that would make seem like you were jobless for two years.”

 

“I’ll decide that myself, once my draft notice comes out. Thanks for worrying about me though, nuna,” Woojin gave Jangmi a smile, though it was obviously a strained one. Jangmi didn’t seem to notice in her drunken state, only giving him a sweet smile in return as she continued to indulge herself in some chocolate cookies.

 

“Or how about I introduce you to some nice girls, Woojin? Maybe they’d want to marry you later and give you a green card so that you don’t have to go back,” Jangmi giggled and nudged him in the side, before turning her attention on Seongwoo, “Or oppa, you too! Just tell me what your ideal type is, I’ll introduce you to all the girls.”

 

“Uh,” Seongwoo exchanged a look with Woojin, who faintly shook his head with a flat face, “I’m not really interested in dating right now. Maybe later.”

 

“Jenny, my baby, I need to find you a guy too,” Jangmi cooed and slung her arm around Jenny’s shoulders, pulling the younger girl closer to her side, “How about Daniel? He’s a relatively good-looking guy with a good personality, he has an American passport – I would take him, but I think you need him more.”

 

“Oh, unnie – stop,” Jenny giggled and stole a glance at Seongwoo’s face, hiding her red face under her hands.

 

That was the last straw. Seongwoo was about to say something when Jihoon snapped.

 

“Nuna, worry about your own life before you butt into other people’s. Don’t you also need to raise your GPA if you want to become a professor or whatever your plan was? Weren’t you also saying that you failed your last evaluation?” Jihoon said sharply, “Whatever you’re trying to say, you’re obviously making Woojin and Seongwoo-hyung uncomfortable. Take your meddling somewhere else, to people who actually care.”

 

There was a brief silence between them, Jangmi’s face becoming red as she pursed her lips and glared at Jihoon, with Jenny looking confused between them. The poor girl obviously wasn’t too good at reading the atmosphere.

 

Woojin stood up and pulled at Seongwoo’s arm. “Come on, hyung,” he said gruffly, “Let’s go for a smoke.”

 

Jihoon gave them an empathetic look, giving them an okay sign. Seongwoo sighed and stood up from his spot, following Woojin who roughly grabbed his jean jacket from the coat rack next to the entrance.

 

They took a seat on the curb next to the townhouse. It was cold outside, so Seongwoo was glad that he wore his black hoodie today. He was also glad that Woojin brought him outside; he was starting to crave a cigarette real badly in there. Probably from all the stress and the alcohol too.

 

“Do you have yours?” at Woojin’s headshake, Seongwoo asked again as he took out his pack and lighter from his hoodie pocket, “Is Marlboro Menthol okay?”

 

“Anything will do, honestly. I forgot mine,” Woojin grinned toothily, “Thanks, Seongwoo-hyung.”

 

The two smoked in silence, the only sound being them inhaling and exhaling. Woojin’s foot was tapping on the asphalt uneasily and his face wasn’t lightening up either, probably mulling over Jangmi’s words.

 

Seongwoo also couldn’t help but to think about them – after all, the end of his study-abroad wasn’t something that he was thinking about, he was just focused on running away from Korea and getting used to the college life here. He felt so invincible with Daniel by his side, like he could conquer all his problems, but…in the end Daniel belonged here too. His _home_ was here, whereas Seongwoo would at point be forced to return to Korea.

 

And Jangmi did bring up a problem that he would have to worry about eventually: military service. It was true that he could extend it till after he graduated – but there was the problem of finding a job after enlistment was over and getting ordered around by people younger than him. But if he did go soon, what would become of him and Daniel? It wouldn’t be fair of him to ask Daniel to wait for him for 2-3 years.

 

He knew he was overthinking and worrying over things that might not even happen, but still –

 

“What a nosy bitch, right?” Woojin’s mutter broke Seongwoo out of his thoughts, and Seongwoo turned towards the younger boy, Woojin was staring down at the asphalt solemnly while snuffing out the butt of his cigarette on the sidewalk, “Like, yeah, we know that we’re foreigners, we’ll probably stay as foreigners and be forced out later as foreigners. No need to rub that in our faces.”

 

“Right,” Seongwoo agreed as he exhaled another mouthful of smoke, muttering bitterly, “We’re only foreigners.”

 

“She needs to mind her own damn business, that’s what she needs to do,” Woojin grumbled, “She’s a great nuna to hang out with, and I know she’s not a bad person, but – whatever.” Then he stood up from his spot and patted the dirt off his sweats, looking back at Seongwoo, “I’m going to head back, I feel bad for leaving Jihoon alone there. Do you want to head back too, hyung?”

 

“Uh,” Seongwoo contemplated for a moment, “I might want to smoke another one. You can head back though.”

 

“Okay,” Woojin walked a few steps away from Seongwoo before he turned around again, scratching his neck sheepishly, “Hyung, don’t think too much about what Rose-nuna said. It’s too early to start worrying about all that.”

 

“Right,” Seongwoo smiled, “Thanks, Woojin.”

 

He took out the last cigarette and crushed the empty pack in his fist, the cheap plastic crinkling easily. He was twirling the cigarette in his hand when someone plopped down next to him. Seongwoo jumped and looked, only to find out that it was Daniel. And then he became conscious of the cigarette and the empty pack in his hands.

 

“It’s okay, hyung,” Daniel chuckled when Seongwoo remained frozen, “Go on, I won’t stop you.”

 

“Uh,” Seongwoo stuffed the empty pack back in his pocket and scratched the side of his neck sheepishly, “Daniel, it’s not like I was trying to hide it from you or anything, and it’s not something I’m ashamed of, but…”

 

“It’s okay, I knew for a while now,” Daniel shrugged. At Seongwoo’s widened eyes and questioning look, he looped an arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders and pulled him closer so that Seongwoo’s head was leaning against his shoulder. “You were really good at hiding the scent, I’ll give you that. I only smelled it on you two or three times maybe? My sense of smell is really sensitive. Other people wouldn’t have noticed.”

 

“Yeah…I’ve been trying to cut down,” Seongwoo murmured and rubbed his nose, “I only smoke when I’m really, _really_ stressed out.”

 

“I’ve noticed,” Daniel giggled and poked him in the cheek where his moles were at, “It’s good that you try, that way you can be with me for a longer time. Don’t try too hard though, stress is bad too.”

 

Seongwoo felt all stress and tension leaving his body, even though his worries remained in the back of his head. He would have to figure this out somehow. He sighed as placed the cigarette between his lips and lit it, leaning and relaxing against Daniel’s shoulders. He was starting to feel the buzz from alcohol and it felt pleasant.

 

“Did something happen?” Daniel asked after a brief silence, worried eyes flickering down at Seongwoo.

 

Seongwoo grinned weakly, “Just got into an argument, nothing big.” He knew Daniel and Jangmi were good friends and he didn’t want to make it awkward between them, especially when Jangmi didn’t know that they were in a relationship now.

 

Daniel looked like he wanted to pry, but after gazing at Seongwoo for a bit, he backed down. “Well, just know that I’m here to listen if you want to talk about it.”

 

I know, Seongwoo wanted to reply, but he knew that once he opened his mouth he would spill everything to Daniel once again, like how it had been until now. For now, he was going to forget about his unclear future, and enjoy this moment with Daniel.

 

“After you’re done, let’s head back,” Daniel murmured, rubbing the side of his head against Seongwoo’s, “Jaehwan says he’s ready to go back too. Let’s get out of here.”

 

“I feel like you guys were just stuck in that meeting this entire time,” Seongwoo laughed, turning his face to the side to exhale the smoke, “What was it even about anyway?”

 

“Just upcoming events that we should be aware of, taking volunteers, blah blah blah,” Daniel huffed, “Jaehwan and Sungwoonie-hyung volunteered me for some of them. I hate them.”

 

Seongwoo chuckled, feeling the alcohol slowly overtaking his system with each inhale and exhale of his cigarette, “Sungwoonie-hyung seems like a nice person. Jihoon and Woojin too. I had fun talking to them.”

 

“Yeah, we should all hang out together next time. You would love it,” Daniel hummed and slowly lowered his arm to Seongwoo’s waist, pulling Seongwoo flush against his side.

 

Daniel was still warm even though Seongwoo was thoroughly chilled from being outside for a while. The warmth was making Seongwoo sleepier and sleepier, especially with the alcohol circulating throughout his body now that he was relaxed.

 

Seongwoo didn’t realize that he had dozed off when Daniel plucked the cigarette out of his fingers and threw it onto the ground, laughing, “Let’s go now, I don’t want you to fall asleep on the sidewalk and catch a cold.”

 

Seongwoo was still dazedly staring at the dying ember as Daniel snuffed it out with his foot and hoisted Seongwoo up by his arms. He stumbled when his vision swam with the sudden movement but luckily Daniel was there to steady him.

 

“I think I drank too much,” Seongwoo mumbled, leaning into Daniel with his eyes closed, “I need to go home.”

 

“I think so too,” Daniel giggled, “I’ll call Jaehwan real quick. Can you walk?”

 

“I need to go home,” Seongwoo groaned into Daniel’s shoulder; his body felt so heavy.

 

“Alright, I’ll make sure you get home. I’ll piggyback you. Hop on, hyung.”

 

Daniel let out a small _oomf_ when Seongwoo jumped onto his back sluggishly. Daniel was warm and his back was wide – it made perfect sense for Seongwoo to close his eyes, since his vision was swimming too. He hummed contently into the crook of Daniel’s neck. As usual, Daniel smelled nice – like peaches and laundry detergent with a hint of sweat.

 

As he drifted off to sleep, he heard Daniel calling and talking to Jaehwan. And for some reason, he also remembered Minhyun’s words from long time ago, after they drank together for the first time in front of a convenience store and Seongwoo woke up on the floor of Minhyun’s room with horrifying memories of the previous night.

 

_Make sure you always watch how much you’re drinking, Seongwoo, because you get…uh, touchy when you’re drunk._

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo felt the mattress dip with the weight settling beside him, followed by the scent of fresh peaches bursting in his nostrils, then a warm hand brushing back his bangs gently. He refused to open his eyes though – even behind the closed lids, he felt the world spinning and he’d rather continue sleeping like this, thank you very much.

 

“Hyung, wake up,” Daniel murmured, fingers tickling Seongwoo’s forehead, “Just for a little bit, please?”

 

“Mm,” Seongwoo scowled and tried to turn his body away from Daniel, except his body felt heavy like a potato sack.

 

He heard Daniel’s stifled giggles before the hand on his forehead slid down to his shoulders and started to shake him lightly. “You told me you had to go home. You have to wake up now if you want to go back.”

 

Home? Go back? Where? Seongwoo frowned. Go back to Korea? Hell no. “No,” he whined, “I want to stay.”

 

There was a little pause before the shaking came back. Seongwoo grabbed the annoying hand and hugged it to his chest, murmuring with a displeased frown on his face, “Not going back. I want to stay here, with you.”

 

“…Oh hyung,” there was something about Daniel’s voice that sounded strained, even though the lips brushing against his temple was as soft as ever, “You can take the bed then. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

 

Seongwoo wasn’t sure how him responding that he wanted to stay in America resulted in Daniel sleeping in the living room, but he had no energy to object to that so he remained curled up in his position. Daniel’s bed was nice – the mattress was firm enough, his pillow and blanket were fluffy, and most importantly, the whole bed smelled like Daniel. Peaches with a hint of laundry detergent in addition to a scent that was innately…Daniel. Seongwoo shifted a little and buried his nose into the pillow; he was starting to get hot.

 

Ever since their semi-failure of a first kiss, they unfortunately didn’t have many opportunities to level up on their physical intimacy. Jaehwan got pulled into helping the Korean student organization out in preparation for the mixer, which meant that Daniel also got dragged in, despite his protests.

 

Even when they did spend time together, it wasn’t like they were ever at a place where they can be intimate anyway since Seongwoo’s sadistic professor decided to throw in another assignment and Seongwoo was cooped up in the library all week. They did manage to sneak some kisses and hugs but nothing ever serious or too long for them to take another step.

 

But now that Seongwoo was tipsy and in Daniel’s bed…

 

Daniel continued touching his face gently and ran his fingers over the expanse of Seongwoo’s tiny face. “Oh? You have a mole here too,” Seongwoo felt a finger poking the side of his neck, fingernail lightly scraping the surface.

 

…That’s when Seongwoo opened his eyes and pounced on Daniel.

 

Daniel’s chest was hard and fleshy at the same time beneath his fingers and Seongwoo couldn’t help but to give them a light squeeze as his lips lunged forward and…slammed into Daniel’s nose.

 

“Ow,” Daniel laughed and cupped Seongwoo’s face, directing Seongwoo in the right direction, “You’re so drunk, hyung.”

 

“I’m not drunk,” Seongwoo narrowed his eyes at him and leaned down to plant a firm kiss on Daniel’s lips, not missing his target this time.

 

“Okay, okay. If you say so,” Daniel chuckled when Seongwoo missed again and kissed the corner of his mouth, “I think that’s enough.”

 

Daniel gently flipped their position with his hands tucked under Seongwoo’s nape and lower back. Seongwoo whined when Daniel tried to shift away and pulled Daniel down on top of him.

 

Daniel sighed as he leaned down to press a soft kiss against Seongwoo’s lips, placing his hand on top of Seongwoo’s eyes. His hand was hot and a little sweaty. “You’re making this very difficult for me,” he murmured, pressing another kiss to Seongwoo’s cheek, “You had a long day so you should try to get some sleep.”

 

“But…” Seongwoo whimpered, pulling Daniel’s hand down to his lips to start nipping and licking at the fingertips. Why was Daniel trying to coax him to sleep when there was an obvious erection pressing against the side of his hip? Seongwoo also felt his own starting to strain against the material of his black skinny jeans and wanted release so desperately. His vision was starting to blur with heady desire – though it honestly may be the alcohol catching up on him, but still.

 

“No buts. Not today, hyung,” Daniel took his hand away, but before Seongwoo could start whining about the loss, he felt it slip under his thin white t-shirt, fingertips hot and a little wet – probably with sweat and Seongwoo’s saliva. “But since you obviously won’t go to bed like this, let me help you.”

 

Seongwoo didn’t object and pressed an open-mouthed kiss against Daniel’s neck as the younger one got settled above him, pleasantly heavy and warm and the scent of peaches filling his nose. He also slipped his arms under Daniel’s shirt and felt up the muscles of his back and shoulders.

 

He didn’t even feel the hand that undid the fly of his pants so he almost yelped when a hand was suddenly shoved into the tight confines of his pants. Daniel slotted their mouths together and dipped his tongue into Seongwoo’s mouth while squeezing Seongwoo’s ass reassuringly over his boxer briefs. Their tongues tangled and flickered against each other, movement wet and slow with Seongwoo intoxicated and half not in his right mind.

 

Seongwoo tried to push his hips up into Daniel’s, except Daniel pushed them down firmly into the mattress and pulled his pants off with little difficulty. Before Seongwoo could do anything else, the heavy and hot weight of Daniel’s hand was on top of his erection, squeezing he entire length softly before rubbing his thumb over where the head was. Seongwoo couldn’t help but let a squeak leave his lips.

 

It was obvious that Daniel was also extremely aroused, with his flushed face and ears. He really does look like a peach. Seongwoo thought to himself dazedly. When a droplet of sweat rolled down his cheek, some remnants getting caught in his peach fuzz, Seongwoo just had to crane his head up to bite into the pink, supple-looking flesh in front of him before dragging his tongue along the surface where his teeth made an indent. “Peach...”

 

“Oh god,” Daniel sharply exhaled into his ear and squeezed his hand again, “Seongwoo-hyung.”

 

“Mm,” Seongwoo answered absentmindedly and smooched at the teeth marks left on Daniel’s cheek. Would this bruise Daniel? If Daniel was a human peach, would he be a sad bruised peach tomorrow? Then he would make sure to nurse the sad bruised peach until it became a juicy, delicious peach again. Or maybe just eat the peach.

 

Daniel’s hand slipped into his boxer brief and began pumping his length languidly. Daniel used his thumb to rub at the opening, collecting all the precum, and then dragged his thumb down the shaft, smearing the clear liquid all over the sensitive flesh. Seongwoo closed his eyes and bit his lips when the added moisture made Daniel’s movement a lot more pleasurable and brought him one step closer to the edge.

 

Before he realized it, Seongwoo was rocking his lower body into Daniel’s hand, breaths coming out in frantic pants against Daniel’s neck, knees bent, and feet pushing restlessly against the mattress. Daniel licked at the sweat on Seongwoo’s forehead and pressed butterfly kisses all over his face.

 

“Ah, s-so close...” Seongwoo gasped and dug his teeth into the side of Daniel’s neck, hips grinding up desperately and erratically as his end approached, “Niel-ah...”

 

“Hyung, jagi-yah,” Daniel’s voice was so slow that Seongwoo couldn’t help but to whimper and arch his back when a hand slipped under his lower back, “Come for me.”

 

Seongwoo’s body quaked with pleasure, heels digging harder into the bed and breaths in stuttering gasps and whines as he came into Daniel’s hand. The whole world with its white spots was still spinning in the aftermath behind his closed eyelids. It spun so much that Seongwoo didn’t even mind his now-wet underwear and Daniel’s heavy, hot body still on top of him. Daniel continued to caress and kiss him comfortingly, coaxing him back down from his orgasm.

 

Seongwoo must’ve fallen asleep for a bit because when he came to his senses again, Daniel was not on top of him anymore. The younger boy was instead sitting by his side and wiping his lower body down with a warm, wet towel. Seongwoo squirmed, face twisted into a frown and making distressed noises.

 

At Seongwoo’s squirming, Daniel leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple. “It’s okay, hyung. Go back to sleep.”

 

Seongwoo groaned in response and swallowed the salty-tasting saliva that had quickly filled up his mouth, before he croaked, “I need to throw up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for all your support through comments and kudos! It's been a loooong time since I've written anything so I wasn't sure what kind of response I'd get. Please let me know if you have any concerns/questions!  
> (Also, I'm very excited but sad at the same time about the comeback T.T)


	6. feat. Taco Bell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I'm not in any way advertising for all these brands and restaurant chains.
> 
> Self-conscious Ong, some misunderstandings, and the grand naming ceremony for Patrick and Ongie

You’re a fucking idiot, Ong Seongwoo, was the first thought that entered his head when he woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling with a pounding headache. He peeked under the blanket and realized he was dressed in one of Daniel’s oversized t-shirts and in an underwear that was pastel pink (and Seongwoo was pretty sure that he came wearing his black boxer briefs last night, as he did not own any underwear that was pastel pink).

 

Seongwoo never blacked out no matter how much he drank, which meant that he remembered everything in excruciating, minute details before he fell asleep: Seongwoo refused to leave, practically jumped poor Daniel, got…jacked off, and puked all over himself and Daniel’s bed.

 

Daniel probably also saw Seongwoo’s naked body while cleaning up and redressing him.

 

Well, that was a minor problem considering that Daniel had touched Seongwoo’s man organ skin-to-skin, but still.

 

He would’ve screamed into the pillow except that’s when Daniel poked his head through the door, hair wet and cheeks rosy — probably from a shower — and again looking very much like a human incarnation of Apeach.

 

“Hyung, you’re up!” Daniel beamed as he padded over and sat next to Seongwoo on the bed, making him painfully self-conscious of his current state, “You should take a shower. Aren’t you hungry? It’s already past noon so let’s grab something to eat after you come out. We can even drive to Koreatown if you want hangover soup.”

 

“I want to die, Daniel,” Seongwoo groaned and buried his face into the blanket, making Daniel giggle in response.

 

“That’s good. At least you remember everything, I was a little scared that you’d forget everything and then freak out. No dying allowed though!” Daniel brushed his bangs back and pecked him on his forehead with a loud smooch, “I ran the laundry machine last night. Your underwear is in the bathroom, it should be dry now but the rest are still drying. You can wear my clothes for now.”

 

Seongwoo contemplated once again whether or not he should drown himself in Daniel’s shower, but in the end decided not to. The poor boy shouldn’t be traumatized and be forced to clean up his dead body, he was too precious for this world – if anything, Seongwoo should find somewhere else to carry out his deed. Even though he was standing under cold water, his entire body still burned with shame and embarrassment as he recalled what had happened last night.

 

Seongwoo was inexperienced in the physical intimacy department save for his one adventure with his first and (probably) last girlfriend who was a freshman in college when Seongwoo was still a high school student – he had managed to have sex with her, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. He was in denial back then and was disgusted with himself for imagining this guy sunbae from the theater club, whom he had attraction towards at the time.

 

Of course, there was that time when he had made out with a random guy from a club in Jongno, but that also turned out to be a horrifying experience that changed the course of Seongwoo’s college life. Seongwoo lived like a monk from then on – which made sense as he essentially didn’t interact with anyone except his family, Minhyun, and some people from his TOEFL/SAT hakwon. His desperation to escape Korea had killed all of his sexual wants and needs.

 

They hadn’t talked about their past experiences in specifics but Daniel was obviously the more experienced one. Seongwoo noticed his ease even through simple touches and kisses. (And he definitely did not forget about those girlfriends that Jaehwan mentioned in passing.) Seongwoo did intend on bringing the topic up at one point, just to see if they were on the same page, maybe even suggest that they take it slow since Seongwoo had a traumatic experience in the past…except drunk and horny Seongwoo already jumped Daniel and got a handjob out of it.

 

Now Daniel was going to think that Seongwoo was so thirsty.

 

And if he told Daniel that he was inexperienced? He was going to be _that_ thirsty inexperienced older boyfriend.

 

That was not going to happen.

 

Except he was already failing in the thirsty part because his morning wood was already raging from using Daniel’s shower and rubbing Daniel’s peach-scented shampoo into his hair.

 

Getting hard from using his boyfriend’s shampoo? Was he a high schooler with raging hormones? How thirsty can he get? …Seongwoo was not going to find out the answer to the last question.

 

By the time his erection had died, Seongwoo had sung all four verses of the Korean national anthem in his head and his fingers and toes had turned pruney from for taking so long in the shower. He gingerly came out of the shower, considerably calmed down, except when he started patting himself down with Daniel’s spare towel, he realized that it smelled like Daniel too. And when he threw on Daniel’s clothes – the sweatshirt and shorts that he had seen Daniel wear frequently – he felt so attacked.

 

So he sung all four verses of the Korean national anthem in his head again before stepping out of the bathroom.

 

Daniel was in the living room playing with Peter and Rooney, swinging the Kasha Kasha cat toy in the air while the two felines jumped around. The moment Seongwoo peeked his head out the door with the towel still on his head, Daniel immediately jumped up from his spot, making Peter and Rooney scurry away and seek refuge on the cat tower by the living room window.

 

“You smell nice,” Daniel exclaimed as he walked over in long strides and buried his nose into the crook of Seongwoo’s neck. Seongwoo couldn’t help but jump a little at the sudden physical contact.

 

“Uh, I just used whatever that was in your bathroom,” he dumbly replied, distracted by Daniel’s plush lips pressing some soft kisses on his neck. _Donghaemulgwa baekdusani –_ this wasn’t working, maybe he should move onto multiplication table. “I can’t believe you use peach-scented hair and body products.”

 

“People call me human Apeach anyway, I might as well play the part, right?” the younger boyfriend lifted his head and rubbed his nose back and forth against Seongwoo’s wet hair, circling Seongwoo’s waist with his arms. “You smell better than I do though, I’m glad I’ve been using them all this time.”

 

“Right,” Seongwoo muttered hastily in reply. The national anthem wasn’t working, he was definitely getting distracted by the way Daniel was rubbing against him like a dog marking its territory. The hand that just slipped under his sweatshirt did not go unnoticed. “Um, Daniel?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Seongwoo shivered a little at the vibrations he felt against his skin. He was starting to get hot, his mouth getting dry as well. He really hoped that Daniel couldn’t hear or feel his heart pounding through the sweatshirt.

 

God, he was really like a teenage boy with raging hormones.

 

As if he sensed Seongwoo’s growing anxiety, Daniel grinned against his neck and pulled away, but not before landing a quick peck on his cheek.

 

“I didn’t realize you’d be this shy when we first became boyfriends,” he chuckled when Seongwoo remained frozen in the same spot. “Come on hyung, I thought you were fine with touching before!”

 

“T-that was before,” Seongwoo stuttered. He could feel his cheeks and ears burning even more with embarrassment.

 

Large hands cupped his flaming ears as Daniel’s huge body slammed against his in his enthusiasm to give Seongwoo a firm kiss on the top of his head. “Too cute,” he cooed.

 

“Hey, I’m older than you. Give me some respect,” Seongwoo grumbled, brushing Daniel’s hands away from him and squirming out of his embrace.

 

There was a slight pause before Daniel shifted away with a sheepish smile, before he pawed playfully at Seongwoo’s shoulder.

 

“What’s wrong with calling my cute boyfriend cute? I’m only stating a fact,” Daniel said as he headed over to the kitchen to shuffle through a few ads, most of them being from fast food chains. Seongwoo could see the muscles of his back twist and turn as Daniel shifted around.

 

Just last night he felt those muscles move under his fingertips… His throat felt very dry once again.

 

“I’m getting hungry. Do you want to eat something quick at home or eat out? Or order takeout? I’m down for anything.”

 

Definitely not staying home – Seongwoo would probably jump him again in less than 30 minutes – maybe he could invite Jaehwan to help control himself. His hands were starting to turn clammy.

 

“Jaehwan! Is Jaehwan home? Maybe we could invite him too, in case he hasn’t eaten anything yet,” Seongwoo cleared his throat and made a gesture of looking around the living room for Jaehwan.

 

At that, Daniel paused in the middle of his movements and turned around. “But hyung,” he answered while leaning against the kitchen bar, quirking an eyebrow, “I want to spend time with you, not with Jaehwan.”

 

Their eyes met in a short moment, the younger man looking uncharacteristically stern while Seongwoo twisted his cold, clammy hands — before the tense air dissipated with Daniel’s sunny smile.

 

“It’s Saturday, so Jaehwan is at the church praise team practice,” Daniel chuckled as he picked up an ad. Seongwoo blinked; it was as if the stern Daniel just now was only in Seongwoo’s imagination. “I’m feeling Taco Bell, what about you, hyung?”

 

“Taco Bell sounds good,” he cleared his throat again, “Shall we go?”

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day went like how their hangouts were before they officially started dating: super casual. The two had scarfed down some Crunchwrap Supreme’s, talked about Daniel’s unending quest to mastering his choreography for another evaluation and Seongwoo’s sadistic professor and his daunting coding assignments. When Seongwoo had started dozing off with a half-eaten Crunchwrap in his hands, Daniel only giggled and took a video of him with his phone.

 

After Seongwoo’s hangover subsided with all the greasy and heavy food, they decided to kill time by watching one of the Harry Potter movies at a movie theater that was replaying a Harry Potter movie every Saturday until Christmas. This also turned out to be a bad idea, as Seongwoo could smell the shampoo and body wash on Daniel and on himself, bringing him back to the memories of last night when Daniel’s scent had filled and overwhelmed his senses. Seongwoo tried to distract himself with popcorn but that was also a fail attempt when his finger brushed against Daniel’s.

 

Daniel didn’t try to hold hands or hug him in public after they left his apartment – even in the movie theater, so he probably realized that Seongwoo was avoiding physical touch with the way Seongwoo would jump and flinch every time there was some kind of almost-contact. He acted playful like he always did, but there were a couple times when Seongwoo caught him staring with a thoughtful expression even though it would dissipate quickly into his characteristic puppy-like smile.

 

“You should sleep over at my place and head back tomorrow morning if you don’t have to go,” Daniel said as he hopped into the driver’s seat of his black Hyundai Elantra, turning on the engine quickly to turn on the seat warmer for Seongwoo who was shivering in Daniel’s sweatshirt. He kept forgetting that it could get cold in California later in the day despite how warm it was earlier. “I can drop you off at your dorm tomorrow so you don’t have to worry about catching the shuttle. Shuttle schedule during the weekend is wack anyways.”

 

“Um, actually — Daniel,” Seongwoo started and Daniel turned his head to look at him, his head tilted to the side like a puppy. Even in the darkness, only the dim lights from the dashboard lighting Daniel’s features, Seongwoo could see Daniel’s puppy-like, round eyes staring back at him. “I’ll go back to my dorm tonight. I realized that I have to work on an assignment.”

 

“Oh,” Daniel looked down for a moment before he looked up again and gave him a small smile, “Okay then, I’ll drop you off at your dorm.”

 

The drive back to Seongwoo’s dorm was quieter than their conversation earlier, but Seongwoo tried to act normally. The younger man did respond actively, but their conversations would trail off into an awkward silence.

 

Daniel was obviously a little sulky, but the only things Seongwoo could do were twisting his hands in his lap and chewing on his lips when he couldn’t bear with the silence.

 

So when Daniel’s car came to a smooth stop in front of Seongwoo’s dorm, Seongwoo hesitated a little before taking off his seatbelt and gathering all his things. Daniel changed the gear to parking and leaned over.

 

Before Daniel’s lips reached his, Seongwoo turned his face so that Daniel kissed his cheek instead of his lips. There was a brief pause — Seongwoo’s heart was pounding so much in his chest and he could feel every hair on his body standing on end.

 

“Um, text me when you get home. Bye, Daniel,” he said quickly before scrambling out of Daniel’s car, shutting the door behind him firmly and walking away without looking back.

 

Only when he swiped himself in and placed himself in the safe comforts of the dorm lobby did he peek outside to see if Daniel’s car was still there. At the sight of the black Elantra still parked at the same spot, Seongwoo smiled weakly and waved. Only then did the Elantra pulled slowly away from the curb and drove away. Seongwoo let out a huge sigh that he was holding in and rubbed at the goosebumps on his face and arms.

 

Seongwoo didn’t realize he was back in his room until he saw his roommate on his bed, furiously playing League of Legends on his laptop with headphones on. Seongwoo slipped out of the room, contemplating for a moment before he decided to head up to the study room on the top floor. No one was usually there, especially on a Saturday.

 

Seongwoo took a seat in the veranda and promptly video-called Jaehwan. He would’ve called Minhyun on a normal occasion, but Minhyun told him that he was going to be busy with Seoul University’s annual festival and cramming for midterms. And he should stop depending so much on his friend anyways…not that video-calling Jaehwan was any better.

 

“Helloooo?” Jaehwan sang on the other side of the phone, his eye peeking out at the bottom corner of the screen. Seongwoo recognized the familiar bedsheets of Jaehwan’s bed. “What do you want, Seongwoo-hyung?”

 

“Uh, Daniel isn’t in your room, right?” Seongwoo nervously asked. He probably should’ve thought this through before calling Jaehwan.

 

“I heard him come home earlier. Probably in his room. Shouldn’t you know this better than me though?” Jaehwan’s visible eye rolled up; Seongwoo would’ve punched him if he was there. “Wait, don’t tell me you guys fought?!”

 

“No. We didn’t fight,” Seongwoo sighed, “Just answer this question for me, Jaehwan: how many people have Daniel dated?”

 

Jaehwan shifted the camera so that both of his eyes were visible on the screen. “So who was the one who told me just last week that he doesn’t care about Niel’s past love life?” Jaehwan rolled his eyes again.

 

“Well, I obviously do now because – because – ugh, why the hell is he so skillful, Jaehwan?” Seongwoo groaned and slapped a hand on his forehead, “Like, I get so self-conscious every time he comes near me. We’ve been touchy even before we started dating, but I’m starting to get bothered by my lack of experience!”

 

Jaehwan’s look of disgust was evident even through the crappy quality of their video call. “Hyung, T-M-I!!! I love you bros but I am _not_ going to counsel you on your sex life with Niel, okay! I don’t want the image of you two going at it like rabbits in my head!”

 

For once, Seongwoo was grateful that Jaehwan’s parents invested so much money into making Jaehwan’s room soundproof because all that screaming would’ve been heard by Daniel if otherwise. “I wouldn’t have told you all that if you just gave me the damn answer to my question!” Seongwoo hissed.

 

“He’s had maybe two serious girlfriends? And when I mean serious, hyung, I mean like high school serious – which means _not serious_ ,” Jaehwan rolled his eyes for the third time, “If you’re asking me if he’s had sex or not, I have a bro code to keep? Like the one you and Minhyunie-hyungnim probably have together too? So…just figure it out with Niel. K bye.”

 

And just like that, Jaehwan was gone and Seongwoo was left to glare at the stern, dark screen of his phone.

 

**Jaehwan Jay the KING**

I’ll just finish with this

Because I’m so nice

Niel probably isn’t as experienced as  
you think he is   07:23 PM

But he does have an uncanny ability when  
it comes to physical/tactile stuff

Words by Daniel himself

(emoticon)   07:24 PM

 

He knew he was being dumb and Daniel wouldn’t mind Seongwoo’s inexperience at all, but…there was this pride as the older person in this relationship and shame within him that stopped him from admitting his inexperience. Seongwoo was almost tempted to call Minhyun at this point, even though he could already hear his friend’s voice in his head – _Seongwoo, just go talk to him_.

 

**Nielie Kang**

Hyung~ I came back earlier but I was eating  
dinner >.<

You seemed a little tired earlier so I hope you  
get a good rest!

After you’re done with your assignment of course!

(emoticon)   07:25 PM

Fighting!   07:26 PM

 

Minhyun in his head was raising an eyebrow at him. _Seongwoo, just go talk to him._ Seongwoo groaned, burying his face in his hands. After a short contemplation, he opened Uber. He may regret this later but he had to do what he had to do.

 

* * *

 

Daniel looked confused when he exited his apartment building and found Seongwoo standing alone in the darkness with a cigarette between his fingers. Seongwoo smiled, before realizing that Daniel might not be able to see it and instead waved his lit cigarette at him.

 

“Hey,” Seongwoo greeted as Daniel strode over.

 

“Hi,” Daniel looked pleasantly surprised and not uncomfortable, to Seongwoo’s relief, “What are you doing here, hyung? Without telling me? It’s not safe to be out by yourself when it’s this dark!”

 

“I was gonna call you after this,” Seongwoo gestured to his cigarette before taking a drag from it, “What brings you out here then?”

 

“Oh, um,” Daniel looked contemplative before he sighed and said, “I was bored so I was gonna run around the neighborhood.”

 

Seongwoo nodded as he exhaled the smoke and tapped his finger on the cigarette to let the ashes fall. “I have something to tell you,” he snuffed the light out and threw the remaining cigarette into the trashcan next to him while meeting Daniel’s eyes and digging his heels into the asphalt below his feet. “It might take a while, so...Jaehwan is home, right?”

 

“He is, but he’s in his room. We can talk in my room if you’re okay with that,” he replied, “Or should we go somewhere? We can go to the Denny’s from before, it opens 24/7.”

 

“Your room is fine,” Seongwoo managed a faint smile; at least Daniel didn’t seem like he was too upset. He was worried that Daniel would refuse to talk to him.

 

The two of them headed to Daniel’s apartment in silence, with Seongwoo trailing after Daniel. It was only an elevator ride to the fourth floor, but it still felt like eternity to Seongwoo. His heart was pounding real fast and hard, so he had to tell himself continuously: don’t be embarrassed, you can do this, Seongwoo.

 

Peter and Rooney looked up quickly and stood up when Daniel unlocked the door, but upon seeing Seongwoo trailing after, they sat back down and curled up again in their comfortable positions. Daniel crooned at them briefly as they made their way to Daniel’s room (‘Peter, Rooney, were you surprised that oppa came back so fast?’) and threw some clothes into his laundry basket on his way out of his room while exclaiming, ‘I’m gonna go tell Jaehwan that you’re here, so that he’s not caught off guard.’

 

Seongwoo spent a moment twiddling his thumbs before Daniel came back with some cold cans of beers.

 

“Yes please,” Seongwoo made grabby motions with his hands as Daniel handed him a Smirnoff.

 

“Figured we both needed some,” Daniel grinned and popped open his Hite Extra Cold.

 

The two spent the next couple minutes in silence while sitting on Daniel’s bed and sipping on their respective drinks. Seongwoo stared down at his Smirnoff — he will start talking when he’s done with his bottle, and he will not chicken out. However, Daniel beat him to it by downing the rest of his beer with big, three gulps.

 

“I have something to tell you, too. I want to apologize,” he started as he wiped the corner of his mouth, a little bit of the white foam remaining on his upper lip, “You’re obviously less comfortable with physical contact than me, and I’m sorry if I was going too fast and seeming like I was trying to force it on you. That wasn’t my intention, but I know that could’ve come off as forceful or offensive. I really care about you, hyung, and I would never do anything that you wouldn’t want to do.”

 

Seongwoo’s eyes softened as he reached out and wiped the beer foam on Daniel’s lip. “There’s no need to apologize,” he murmured and took the empty beer can out of Daniel’s hands to set it aside and hold Daniel’s hands, which were a little wet and cold to touch. “I was the one that didn’t explain anything and shut you out, that’s not fair for you at all.”

 

Daniel squeezed his hands back, still looking like a sad puppy. “But still…even what happened last night, you were drunk and I took advantage of that.”

 

“What?! Are you – come on, Daniel,” Seongwoo flicked him on the nose, “We’re two healthy young men and obviously I was the only one who was…uh, horny. At least at first. I should be glad that you didn’t report me for attempted assault.”

 

“Well, I was a willing victim – actually, I wouldn’t even call myself a victim,” Daniel huffed, “I just didn’t expect you to…you know, shut me out like that today, especially after what happened last night. I was worried that I had done something that you didn’t want.”

 

“No, no no. Daniel, no,” Seongwoo firmly shook his head, “Everything was good, and uh, I felt good. I wanted it. Well, it actually happened sooner than I anticipated but I’m okay with it. As for today, I was just feeling self-conscious because you’re my first boyfriend. Ever. And I’m obviously less experienced than you are and I’m the older one.”

 

“Oh my god, hyung,” Daniel chuckled, “You know that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

 

“I can’t help it, okay! I feel like a horny teenager, getting all hot and bothered while you look so calm,” Seongwoo grumbled, unable to meet Daniel’s eyes; his face was burning as he looked at and fumbled with Daniel’s hand.

 

“Okay, okay. I get you,” Daniel bent down and pressed a kiss to the back of Seongwoo’s hand, “Let me just remind you, hyung, you’re my first boyfriend too.”

 

“Yeah, but you’ve had girlfriends before,” Seongwoo tried to pull his hands back but Daniel held onto them firmly, a grin on his face all the while.

 

“So did you. You told me before, remember?” Daniel singsonged teasingly with his head tilted to the side.

 

“…Okay, fine. I had _a_ girlfriend.”

 

“Exactly. _A_ girlfriend,” Daniel’s eyes crinkled into crescents at Seongwoo’s bitter admittance, “So when it comes to guys, we’re both newbies.”

 

“Right… Since we’re both newbies…you wouldn’t mind taking it one step at a time, would you?” Seongwoo swallowed, peering up at Daniel nervously through his thick lashes, “It’s just…you know, with everything that happened to me in Korea, I don’t want to rush into it. I want to do it when we’re ready – when _I_ ’m ready.”

 

“Like I told you before, hyung,” Daniel leaned forward and kissed him three times on the cheek, right over where his moles were, “I would never do anything that you wouldn’t want to do. That also means that I would do anything you want to do.”

 

The younger boyfriend pulled him close by the waist and buried his face into the crook of Seongwoo’s neck. Seongwoo froze for a bit, before he relaxed completely and leaned his head against Daniel’s.

 

“You’re the best, Daniel,” Seongwoo sighed and nuzzled the raspy blonde hair, “You have no idea how glad I am to have you as my boyfriend.”

 

“I feel the same way too,” Seongwoo felt Daniel’s lips curve up against the skin of his neck, “Hyung, I want it to be a good experience for both of us. Yesterday just…kind of happened and I wanted to lend you a helping hand, but I want to be ready for it too. I want to be _good_. We can study, practice, and explore together at our own pace. That sounds exciting, right?”

 

‘At our own pace.’ Seongwoo liked the sound of that.

 

“So we’ll wait until both of us are ready. Don’t feel bad or pressured about it, hyung; you have every right to demand it,” Daniel lifted his head after giving a loud smooch to his neck, before holding Seongwoo’s hands again.

 

Seongwo nodded and pecked him back on the mole near his eye. Daniel was looking back at him with such warm, loving gaze that he couldn’t help but to lean forward and start kissing his boyfriend.

 

Seongwoo had pressed some soft, chaste kisses against Daniel’s plush lips when those lips charged forward and easily entrapped his between them. When his lips became free from all the sucking and licking, it felt natural for him to angle his head a little more and lick his way into Daniel’s mouth.

 

Daniel gave enthusiastic responses in return, lapping and curling his own tongue around Seongwoo’s. Seongwoo felt a jolt of pleasure traveling up his spine when that same tongue dived into his mouth and brushed against the roof of his mouth. Seongwoo let go of Daniel’s hands to run his hands through the blonde strands, but he couldn’t help but to pull at a handful unconsciously every time he felt hot puffs of air against his cheek. Daniel made a noise deep in his throat as Seongwoo sucked on the tongue in his mouth and swallowed the drool that had pooled in it.

 

Seongwoo’s face and ears – actually, probably his entire body – burned as this uncontrollable desire started to emerge within him.

 

He wanted to touch and feel more of Daniel.

 

So he bravely slipped his hands under Daniel’s shirt to feel up his torso, except Daniel reached for his hands and laced their fingers together, pulling Seongwoo’s hands out of his shirt as he continued to kiss him.

 

Seongwoo pouted as Daniel withdrew his tongue and pecked him on the lips before pulling back and opening his eyes. A fond smile was on Daniel’s face as he gave Seongwoo’s hands one more squeeze and reached up to wipe gently at his lips.

 

“What’s with the pout?” Daniel chuckled when Seongwoo continued to make his ‘hing’ face.

 

“I want to touch you,” Seongwoo reached forward with his hands but Daniel stopped him once again but lacing their fingers together. Seongwoo whined in frustration, “Why are you stopping me?!”

 

“Not today, hyung,” Daniel grinned and pressed a kiss to the back of Seongwoo’s hand, “I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself if we go any further today.”

 

Seongwoo felt his entire face and neck flush. Well…that escalated real fast. Seongwoo was practically sitting on Daniel’s lap with his sweatshirt riding up dangerously and he could feel something poking at his thigh…not that his situation was any better. He pulled the sweatshirt down to cover his crotch and carefully maneuvered himself off. Daniel’s face and ears were red as well despite the relaxed grin on his face.

 

As embarrassing as this whole situation was, Seongwoo was glad that he wasn’t the only one that got hot and bothered.

 

“Will you stay the night? I know you said you had an assignment to work on, but…” Daniel asked pitifully, looking very much like a sad Samoyed puppy.

 

“Uh, yeah, I can work on that tomorrow…I guess,” Seongwoo rubbed the side of his neck sheepishly. Seongwoo had no reason to go back to his dorm since he had made that up in his desperation to escape earlier.

 

And now that everything was sorted out…he wanted to stay with Daniel too.

 

Daniel grinned widely at him before he glomped Seongwoo and let their bodies fall sideways onto the mattress. Seongwoo let out a small ‘oomf’ as their bodies hit the mattress and snuggled closer to Daniel, burying his nose into Daniel’s shirt. Peaches and laundry detergent. He had a feeling that he would fall deeply in love with this scent.

 

“Are you sure you don’t need to do anything about this?” Seongwoo joked while poking at Daniel’s hip. Daniel’s erection was still pressing against his thigh.

 

Daniel scooted his lower body backwards, his ears becoming red once again as he laughed. “Hyung, stop! What happened to taking it slow?”

 

“Well, we do need to get acquainted with each other’s juniors eventually,” Seongwoo teased while drumming his fingers against Daniel’s hip.

 

“Hold up,” Daniel cracked up, his body shaking with uncontrolled laughter, “Did you just call our dicks juniors?”

 

“I-it’s a slang…at least in Korea. I’m guessing you don’t call it that here.” Seongwoo tried to explain casually but could feel his cheek heat up. Meanwhile Daniel continued to laugh.

 

“Absolutely not. Ah, I’m crying,” Daniel wiped at the corners of his eyes, which had become wet with tears from all the laughing, “Hyung, why are you so cute?”

 

Seongwoo only groaned and hid his face by burying his head into Daniel’s nape. He could also feel his neck heat up.

 

“Now that you’ve called them juniors, I feel like they’re our children and need to be named,” Daniel patted his shoulders comfortingly, laughter still evident in his voice, “Mine can be Patrick, yours can be……Ongie.”

 

“ _Patrick_?? What the hell,” Seongwoo couldn’t help but to burst out laughing at that, “Where did that even come from and why does yours get to have a legit name while mine is just Ongie?!”

 

“What’s wrong with Ongie? I like it,” Daniel giggled along, patting his lower stomach, “It’s a cute nickname.”

 

“It sounds too cute! You already got acquainted with mine yesterday, it is definitely not _cute_ ,” Seongwoo slapped Daniel’s hand away and grabbed onto his waist, “How do I know yours deserve the name Patrick then?”

 

Daniel tried to wriggle away but Seongwoo held onto the waist tightly. “Come on, Daniel! You saw mine yesterday!”

 

“Hyung, I told you earlier –“ Daniel was half-giggling and half-gasping as he tried to turn his body away so that Seongwoo couldn’t hold onto him.

 

Seongwoo climbed atop the resisting body and trapped the squirming hips between his thighs, before solemnly declaring, “I said one step at a time, Daniel; and we are taking the next step right now.”

 

* * *

 

Somehow Seongwoo found himself facing the ceiling again while clawing at Daniel’s forearms and trying to push his insistent hands away; except Daniel’s hold on both of their dicks were steadfast.

 

The moment Daniel pulled both of their pants and underwear down and aligned their half-hard erections against each other, Seongwoo’s head blanked white with pleasure. He didn’t even realize that Daniel had taken out and used some lube until he was writhing on the bed so much that it was poking into his back at one point. Daniel only laughed breathily and threw it over his shoulders, the tube landing with a _thunk_ somewhere on the floor.

 

Seongwoo tried to muffle his moans by biting on his lips and fingers, but every time he did that Daniel offered his lips instead, kissing him and licking at his bottom lip comfortingly. In the end Seongwoo let his mouth fall open, gladly taking Daniel’s tongue as a distraction as Daniel’s hands squeezed their cocks together and moved up and down smoothly. The lube from earlier, spread generously over both of their hard-ons, was making embarrassing squelching noises that was audible even over their harsh breathing and pants.

 

As Daniel’s hands quickened, Seongwoo pulled his mouth away from Daniel’s and threw his head back, back arching naturally. “A-Ah, Niel-ah…”

 

Daniel paused with a faint sound of gritting teeth, taking a deep breath and blowing the bangs out of his eyes before he pushed their hips closer. He licked at the sweat glistening on Seongwoo’s forehead and lowered his head to scrape his teeth along the side of Seongwoo’s neck, making Seongwoo whimper and writhe. Seongwoo reached for his forearms again in vain hopes of reducing all this stimulation, but all he could do was feel the veins on Daniel’s arms pop out and pulse beneath his fingertips.

 

When Daniel’s slick hands slammed into the base of their shafts and promptly rubbed at the tip with his thumb, Seongwoo came with a stifled moan while digging his teeth into Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel followed soon after, his breaths in gasps as he grinded and thrusted his hips into Seongwoo’s a few times, riding out his orgasm. Seongwoo’s body was already limp by that point but Seongwoo felt like his bones and joints were still rattling from when he had come earlier.

 

Seongwoo threw his arm over his eyes, trying to catch his breath, while Daniel remained slumped over his body like a sack of potatoes. Seongwoo ran his fingers through Daniel’s sweat-slicked blonde hair.

 

“Alright, yours can be Patrick. I’m allowing it,” Seongwoo declared after his breathing had steadied, to which Daniel responded with breathy giggles, “But I’m still not happy about Ongie.”

 

“Well, if you come up with a better nickname, you can tell me any time,” Daniel raised his head a little bit to peck him on the lips several times before he rolled over to the spot next to him. Seongwoo was enveloped in a warm embrace as Daniel spooned him, arms and legs wrapping around his body snugly.

 

They were still sweaty and dirty with all the semen, but – Seongwoo decided they could clean up after they enjoy this aftermath. This was nice. And very calming…also sleep-inducing.

 

“I liked what you called me earlier, by the way,” Daniel added after a pause, voice lowered to a whisper as if he was telling Seongwoo a secret, just as Seongwoo was about to doze off to sleep.

 

“I called you something?” Seongwoo murmured, sluggishly reaching for Daniel’s hand. Daniel let him hold it after he wiped his hand on the bedsheet.

 

“Yeah, you almost made me come right then,” Daniel pressed a kiss to the back of his ear, still whispering, “You called Niel-ah. You normally never call me that.”

 

Seongwoo laced their fingers together with a sleepy grin on his face. His eyes slid shut. “I can call you that more from now on.”

 

“…It’s okay. I think I’d like hearing it in bed more,” Daniel said, sounding somewhat shy, and Seongwoo could feel him smile against his nape.

 

“I liked it when you called me jagi yesterday too,” Seongwoo yawned. His words were starting to slur together from all the pent-up fatigue that followed him around throughout the day, “But you can’t call me that in front of Jaehwan or others, okay? Promise me. Patrick, you too.”

 

“Alright, I promise. I think Jaehwan would try to rip out his eardrums if I did that in front of him. Patrick promises too,” Daniel squeezed his hand reassuringly.

 

Seongwoo squirmed when he felt the wet appendage touch his butt. With his eyes still closed, Seongwoo reached back and petted it gently, as if he was trying to calm down an angry dog. “Down, Patrick. No more playing today.”

 

He couldn’t help but to smile as Daniel burst into giggles, before he heard Daniel whisper into his ear, “Good night, jagi. See you tomorrow morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo this fic kinda has a general overarching plot ish but it will be easier to think of it as a collection of one-shots...I'm also taking it chapter by chapter (1+1 was supposed to be a drabble series filled with fluffy NielOng...now it's become a monster what have I doneee)
> 
> Thanks for reading once again and for all the comments and kudos >.< I'm too shy to reply to all the comments but I do love and appreciate yall's feedbacks!<3


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